


Murder on the SMP

by RoguingAround



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Bad is kind of a father figure to the Dream Team, Basically dramatized minecraft, Cause thats pretty much my major inspo, Everyone finds themself in a murder mystery, Just think of this as Among Us but in minecraft, Murder Mystery, No spoilers but there will be a somewhat happy ending, Phil is kinda a father figure to Techno and Wilbur, The author watched Techno play MC Storymode and got inspired by Ep. 6, Theres gonna be a lot of angst so prepare for that, Warning: this gets incredibly sad very fast, please be prepared for that
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-14
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:40:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 32
Words: 79,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26465065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoguingAround/pseuds/RoguingAround
Summary: Dream finds himself ripped from his SMP Server and trapped in an unknown hardcore server with fourteen of his closest friends, with an unknown mastermind threatening to kill them if they don't kill each other first. His task is to track down the mastermind's identity before the friends he loves are systematically hunted down and killed.Can he do it before time runs out and their fates are sealed? Or will he be killed along with everyone else...
Comments: 984
Kudos: 817





	1. Introduction

It was early fall on the Dream SMP server, with the leaves just beginning to turn into gorgeous shades of red and gold all over the forest. There was a calm feeling in the air, with both sides of the SMP being at peace for once, even going as far as playing mini games and making videos with each other. It was a nice change of pace, Dream didn’t mind playing the role of villain every now and then, but he much preferred being able to laugh and joke with everyone on his server. After all, he created the server in order to be able to play with _all_ of his friends. From his vantage point on top of the castle, he could see the whole server, from Purpled’s flying saucer to the yellow and black walls of L’Manberg to his communal house with George and Sapnap.

It was early morning, with the sun just barely cresting the horizon, and as far as he knew, Dream was the only one awake. He had always been the early riser out of the three, and most of the time he spent his mornings working on buildings or fixing the boardwalk. This morning, though, he felt more nostalgic and wanted to watch the server slowly wake up. His legs were crossed under him as he sat on the Castle’s highest tower, with his arms hugging his torso to ward off the early morning chill. His mask sat in lap, a rare sight as he rarely ever showed his face. Only George and Sapnap had seen it often, the others on the server only seeing his face in glances or flashes. He sighed contently, glad that the sky was clear of clouds so that the sunrise showed its full color spectrum.

That’s why he was so shocked when thunder cracked across the sky and jolted him out of his relaxed state. The sky flashed to black, and the sun disappeared along with the early morning stars. A bright red error message flashed across the sky and the world hauled itself to a stop, all of the mobs freezing and sound being deafened. That’s when the chat messages started to over flow Dream’s screen.

_Georgenotfound has been kicked from the server_

_Sapnap has been kicked from the server_

_WilburSoot has been kicked from the server_

_Tommyinnit has been kicked from the server_

_Tubbo_ has been kicked from the server_

_Fundy has been kicked from the server._

_Nihachu has been kicked from the server_

_The_Eret has been kicked from the server_

_Punz has been kicked from the server_

_**Dream has been kicked from the server** _


	2. Enter Dream.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dream wakes up in a sew server after being forcibly ejected from his SMP. He has no clue where he is or why he was brought there, but he knows that he can't disconnect from the server and that something has gone horribly wrong.

Dream felt as though he’d been hit by a semi-truck. His head was killing him and his whole body felt both numb and sore at the same time. He groaned in pain and pressed a palm to his temple, trying to ease his way back into conciousness.

“Hey! Take it easy, Dream,” a familiar voice woke him from his stupor, and soft hands helped him slowly sit up, “Switching servers unexpectedly can take a lot out of you if you aren’t used to it, so take your time,”

“Bad?” Dream blinked his eyes open slowly, trying to adjust to the light, “Is that you? When did you get here?” He turned to look at the blurry outline of BadBoyHalo, one of his oldest and closest friends. “Well, that’s kind of a hard question. I woke up about 30 minutes ago, but I’m not sure how long I’ve been on this server,” Bad explained with a nervous chuckle, holding Dream’s mask out to him.

“Wait, what server are we on?” Dream rubbed his eyes, bringing up his menu to try and check, pausing as he slid his mask on, “and why the fuck can I not disconnect.”

“Language. And- I don’t know… That’s the problem, all of us either woke up here or showed up here and we have absolutely no clue how to get out or even why we’re here, as far as I can tell, you’re the last to arrive.” Bad stood up and brushed the dirt from his jeans, then held a hand out to the green clad man. Dream took it thankfully and took note of his surroundings, “Who’s we?” he asked softly and stared around. He had no clue where they were, he’d never been to this server as far as he could tell.

The first thing he noticed was the world border, a dark red thing that went so far into the sky that he wasn’t sure if it ever ended. Then he noticed the fairly large mansion that stood about fifty blocks in front of them, it reminded him somewhat of Woodland Mansions, but this one looked more manmade. They were standing on what looked like a gravel driveway, but it ended about thirty blocks behind them, and just beyond that was a hill that dropped off with a cliff, and based off the salt he smelled in the air, he assumed ocean laid under the cliff. Bad slowly led him towards the house as he explained, voice gentle and careful,

“Skeppy and I got here first, we were tp’ed out of nowhere so we were pretty disoriented, like you. Not long after that Technoblade, Wilbur, and Phil showed up on the grass asleep, and Skeppy and I woke them up. After that Tommy, Tubbo, and Jack appeared midair and fell into the fountain- they weren’t too happy about that,” Bad chuckled nervously, “Then George, Fundy, Sapnap, and Niki dropped in on the beach. Punz and Eret spawned in on the second story balcony, and you- who I assume is the last person- showed up on the gravel,” by the time Bad finished his explanation, the two had reached the front door, the walk taking them longer than usual because Dream was still very disoriented.

“How do you know I’m the last person?” Dream groaned, rubbing his head, as if it would remove his headache faster. “Well, that’s kinda what I’ve been waiting to tell you… There was a note explaining why we’re here and that there’s only fifteen of us…” Bad held the door open and Dream squinted as he adjusted to the low light of the foyer. George and Sapnap were sitting on the elegant double staircase of the front room and perked up slightly at the sight of their friend, but Dream didn’t miss the grimace on their faces that they tried to hide.

“Dream!” Sapnap tackled him in a hug, sending the two of them stumbling before George caught them, making it a group hug. “How do you feel?” George asked as the three broke apart,

“Like I got hit by a truck, but the headache is the only thing that’s bothering me at the moment,” Dream admitted, but couldn’t stop the smile on his face from reuniting with them. “We can get you a health potion for that,” Bad piped up, eyed George and Sapnap in a silent conversation, the two of them stiffening somewhat, “Come inside when you finish talking, try not to take too long,” Bad threw the two a sympathetic smile and disappeared through the double doors. An awkward silence filled the room and Dream couldn’t help but feel a strong sense of dread form in his stomach.

“I’m guessing you guys know why we can’t disconnect from the server and Bad left it up to you guys to tell me?” Dream suggested with an awkward laugh, the two smiling slightly at his attempt to raise the spirit of the room. “Yeah, um, about that,” Sapnap started, glancing at George to see if the other man wanted to explain, but George shook his head, leaving it to the arsonist.

“Okay, this is gonna sound really weird, and you might not believe us, but I promise you that what I’m about to say is the complete and honest truth,” Sapnap started, guiding Dream to sit down on the staircase with George next to him, “When we got here, there was a book sitting on a lectern in the middle of the living room, it had a spot light and everything. Bad read it out loud for all of us, so I’ll just give you the summarized version.” Sapnap trailed off and took a deep breath, gathering his nerve, “Basically, some psychopath pulled us from our servers and put us in this server- which is set on hardcore- and then he said, and I quote, ‘the only way to get out of this server is to kill the other fourteen people you’re trapped with’” Sapnap rang his hands as he spoke, not sure how Dream would react.

Dream stayed silent for a few moments, his signature white mask hiding his reaction, “So… whoever sent us here is asking us to perma kill each other in order to leave?” he finally asked, his voice so soft it was almost inaudible. “Yeah… and it kinda gets worse… Basically he said that he knows we won’t want to kill each other and that we’d settle on being trapped here forever, so he said if we won’t kill each other, he’ll kill us…” Sapnap looked away, his voice cracking, so George continued for him,

“The mastermind behind all of this is here. It’s one of us…” Dream whipped his head to look over at George, “What?” his voice broke. He knew everyone here; he’d been friends with most of them for _years_ and now he’s finding out one of them is a sadist who wants to see them rip each other apart?

“No, no. The sick fuck who wrote that book probably only put that because he wants us to break apart. None of us are killers, at least none of us are that sick. We’ve been through so much together, there’s no way it’s one of us.” Dream shook his head, pushing himself up off the step and pacing in front of the door. George gave him a sad smile, “Yeah that’s kind of the conclusion we’ve all come to, but… we can’t be sure…” He said, also getting up to put a supportive hand on Sapnap’s shoulder.

For a few minutes, they stayed in silence, the only sound being the soft squeak of Dream’s shoes as he paced back and forth. The other boys let him think, the silence giving them their own time to process the news, since they’d only known for around ten minutes themselves. Finally, Dream stopped and took a deep breath then faced the double doors of the living room, and without looking at the others, he broke the silence,

“No matter what happens, we’ve got each other’s backs, right?” His voice was shaky, unsure, a tone he would only ever show them. Sapnap slid his hand into Dream’s and gave it a comforting squeeze, George doing the same with his other hand.

“Always. We’re the Dream Team, aren’t we? We do this together.” Sapnap’s voice was level and had a calm sense of determination to it, “Whatever happens in there, we do it as a team.” The three took a moment to appreciate each other’s company and then their hands broke away from each other’s, and Dream opened the doors into what could be a room full of people who wanted them dead. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading! This chapter is some more exposition but it makes everything yet to come easier to digest.  
> Currently fifteen people are still alive, but how long is it going to stay that way? >:)


	3. A Speaking Portrait

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group gathers to talk about their situation when the Mastermind decides to finally introduce themselves. Their predicament suddenly becomes much more real, and accidents occur.

The living room fell silent when Dream opened the doors, all eyes falling on him- the fifteenth and final person involved in this whole thing. Dream hesitated, unsure what to say or even if he should say anything. He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could get a word out Wilbur stood from his position on the couch and made his way over to Dream. He gave him a small smile, “Welcome to the shit show Dream, how do you feel?”

“Could be better, but thanks for asking,” Dream smiled slightly back, “How is everything in here?” He took quick inventory of the room as Wilbur led him towards the corner of the room, giving him some breathing room away from the others. Tommy, Tubbo, Jack, and Niki were sitting on or around the couch Wilbur came from, talking quietly amongst themselves, trying to distract from their current predicament. A little ways away, near an empty fireplace, stood Techno and Phil who seemed to be trying to figure out what was going on, murmuring softly. Then there was Skeppy and Bad in the center of the room, standing by the infamous lectern Dream was told about; Skeppy was pacing back and forth and Bad seemed to be reading the book again, scouring for clues and asking Skeppy questions every now and then. George and Sapnap moved to join them, settling into a couch across from the lectern, making sure to keep an eye on Wilbur and Dream. Finally, in the opposite corner of him was Fundy, Eret and Punz who all seemed to be trying to joke around and keep the mood light until they all came together to talk.

“Well, we mostly seem to be getting along, all things considered,” Wilbur chuckled lightly, “I don’t think any of us really believe there’s a killer among us, but we do have to talk about this,” Dream glanced back to Wilbur and met his eyes. “Dream, I feel like I should warn you that you’re the most suspicious here. You arrived last and you are kind of known for acting like a psycho. I’m not trying to accuse you of anything- I just wanted to warn you.” Dream opened his mouth to argue, but bit down the urge. Wilbur wasn’t really wrong, his videos did kind of implicate him, as ridiculous as the thought was.

“Well… I’ll tell you right now this isn’t my fault, but thanks for telling me,” Dream murmured and looked back towards the lectern, “I’ll go get the others to gather around the lectern, I’ll see you there,” Wilber threw him a quick, awkward smile and returned to the L’Manberg group. Dream returned to his own group and Bad moved away from the Lectern to sit across from Sapnap and George while Dream quickly read through the book. Wilbur moved from group to group and got them all to gather around near the fireplace and lectern, Dream finished his skim read and couldn’t see anything too out of place. He took a deep breath and turned to face the others,

“So… Shall we get this starte-“

The room went dark. A few seconds later the sky followed suit, the moon replacing the sun in an instant. Thunder crackled across the sky and the fireplace roared to life, causing Phil, Techno, and Tubbo to leap away for fear of catching fire. That’s when the portrait above the fireplace suddenly came to life, the skeleton’s jaw cracking as it suddenly began to speak.

“ **Greetings everyone, I hope the forceful teleport wasn’t too hard on your systems, but I had to get you here somehow, didn’t I? Now I’m sure you all have read my book by now, so I shall remind you of the important bits. You are all stuck in this server until 1. You die, by my hands or someone else’s or 2. You figure out my identity. That’s right, I promise to set everyone here free if you can complete the simple task of figuring out who in this group wants all the others dead.”** A chill ran down Dream’s spine and he couldn’t help but glance at the others, watching for reactions, hoping he could spot a traitor amongst them. Instead, the reality of their circumstances hit him much harder than before. Tubbo was clinging to Tommy as the two stared at the portrait in horror, Wilbur had a hand on Tommy’s shoulder looking ready to shred the painting to bits, and his other hand was clutching Niki’s tightly. Techno had a hand on his sword and had more or less the same face as Wilbur, Phil had a hand on his shoulder, as if he was the only thing holding Techno back. Skeppy was standing in front of Bad as if protecting him from the painting, and they clutched each other’s hands tightly. Finally, he glanced towards George and Sapnap. Sap was standing now, glaring daggers at the painting while George held him back by his shirt, knuckles white from either the effort or from fear, and George was glancing back at Dream, instinctively reaching out so as not to lose him in the darkness of the room. Dream understood Wilbur’s and Techno’s anger, he wanted to hear the Mastermind out, but wanted to tear him to shreds at the same time, but he settled for grabbing George’s outstretched hand.

 **“Before all of cry out and ask _why_ I’m doing this, I’ll explain. It’s quite simple, really! All of us wear masks- it’s a fact. Some wear their masks more heavily than most, and some wear theirs quite literally! But I’m not here to talk about statistics, oh no, no, no~ I’m here to explain the game.”** George gave Dream’s hand a comforting squeeze as Dream’s blood went cold. This mastermind really was trying to implicate him, weren’t they? His other hand was balled into a fist so tight that he was almost worried his nails would cut into his palm. Almost. **“Unfortunately, there will be no happy ending this time, no clout or empire, and certainly no 1v21. You’ll just be stuck here, helpless, just the same as most great things as they face their end. Oceans rise, and Empires fall. You made your pact with an angry god and didn’t follow through. Angry gods need more than a few drops of blood to satiate their hunger. _He_ demands more, so much more, and I am his simple messenger. So now that I’ve gotten your attention, I have but one question for you! What. Comes. Next?”**

The skeleton shuddered to a stop and before any of them could react, the fireplace doubled in size and reached up and over the mantle, setting the portrait alight, and Dream swore he heard the skeleton scream under the hissing of burning canvas. Once the portrait had burned completely, the fire extinguished and the sun returned to the sky, the lights inside slowly starting to light the room back up.

For a few moments, they all stayed silent. There was someone in the room who seemed to be crying, but Dream couldn’t figure out who, he was too busy going over the message in his head, searching desperately for clues.

“Dream? Are you alright?” Bad asked softly, breaking the tense silence of the room. Dream glanced up slowly and suddenly noticed most of the room looking at him. “Yeah-“ his voice cracked, “Yeah, I’m, uh, fine. Just… just thinking about what the asshole said, that’s all.” For once, Bad didn’t correct him for his language.

“Maybe we should all split up and look around this place. I mean, it’s massive! We need to know our surroundings,” Niki spoke up suddenly, sensing the tension in the room. “I agree, but I think we need to have a buddy system, that way if the mastermind _is_ one of us, he can’t escape and get the jump on us.” Phil volunteered, “It should be easy to split us up in pairs, and the Dream Team can be the group of three to make an even split.” Everyone murmured their agreements and soon began leaving in groups, soon leaving just Dream, George, and Sapnap in the living room.

The minute the doors closed behind the last group, Dream dropped onto the couch and pulled his mask off, placing his head in his hands. George and Sap said nothing, they just dropped down on the couch opposite Dream.

“Dream-?”

Before George could finish, Dream suddenly stood up and threw the lectern across the room, the flimsy piece of wood shattering on impact. “GOD DAMMIT!” He shouted and began pacing angrily “What the actual fuck is all this?! I mean if this is a prank it has gone PRETTY DAMN FAR!” Dream shouted up into the air, seemingly at no one. “Come on, Dream, quiet down,” Sapnap stood and put a hand on Dream’s shoulder, but the blonde man immediately shrugged it off as he turned to face Sap. “Quiet down?! Sap did you not see what the hell just happened?!” Dream snapped.

“Of course I saw it! Do you think I’m blind or deaf?!” Sapnap quickly fired back, the two of them staring each other down. “Guys! Arguing isn’t going to get us anywhere, and randomly destroying things also doesn’t do anything!” George stepped in between them and pushed the two apart, “I get that all of us are a little pissed right now, but we can’t take it out on each other!” He scolded them, glaring at both of them through his sunglasses. Dream took a deep breath and sighed, “Yeah, I know, you’re right… Sorry Sap…” he replied sheepishly. “I’m sorry too…” Sapnap muttered.

“Now, we need to figure out what we’re gonna do here. Obviously we’re trapped, and if this _isn’t_ a prank then we need to have a plan of attack. I can’t imagine anyone here having the guts to try this, but it can’t hurt to be careful.” George picked up the book from the wreckage of the lectern. “You’re right, we can’t accuse anyone of being a murderer without proof, especially since all of us kept our weapons from the teleport.” Sapnap sat back down on the couch, leaning back and staring up at the ceiling. “I think we should stay on the defensive. We should find a room separate from the others and fortify it so we know we’re safe at night. Maybe we could do shifts and have one of us be awake at all times.” Dream suggested, resuming his pacing.

“That’s smart. Even if the supposed Mastermind isn’t one of us, we can’t let ourselves be a target.” George agreed and stuffed the book in his bag, “Should we go scout the rest of the mansion, like the others?” Sapnap sighed and groaned at George’s suggestion.

“Honestly, I kinda want to take a fat nap and forget about all this, but you’re right…” He slowly pushed himself up off the couch and grabbed Dream’s mask, “You ready to go explore?” He held the mask out to Dream, who reluctantly grabbed it, but kept it to the side of his face, surprising the others.

“The mastermind was right about one thing; I can’t rely too heavily on my mask anymore… Let’s go.”

It was late in the evening, the sun was just about to set, and most of the others went off to go claim a room somewhere in the mansion, no doubt to fortify it so that they felt safe. Tommy had done that earlier in the day, before Dream had arrived, so now he found himself in the upper part of the living room. On the terraced part of the upper living room was a small library that wrapped around the whole room. In a little cubby above the foyer on the second floor, was an enchanting room. It was nice and quiet up there, so he figured he could get some breathing room from the others and check out what kind of books were in the library, and if the books could clue him into finding the identity of the mastermind. So, for a good two hours, that’s all he did.

“Tommy? What are you doing up here?” Tommy jumped in shock at Eret’s deep voice pulling him out of his book. “Christ’s sake, Eret! Warn a guy before you walk up! You scared the shit out of me,” Tommy breathed a sigh and slid the book back onto the shelf. “Sorry, didn’t think I’d scare you.” Eret chuckled lightly, leaning against the bookshelf a few blocks away from Tommy, “Is this whole thing worrying you?” He chose his words carefully so as not to offend Tommy; he genuinely cared about Tommy and Tubbo’s mental health during all this. After all, those two were only sixteen, it couldn’t be easy on them knowing they were stuck in a house of adults who could easily pick them off. Tommy hesitated before responding,

“Nah… Part of me still thinks this is some elaborate prank by Skeppy or Schlatt or something. Doesn’t really feel real, if I’m being honest.” He shrugged, sure he was a bit nervous, but who wouldn’t be in the face of the unknown? “Well that’s good, if I’m being honest I gotta admit I’m a little worried. Not sure if I’m quite scared yet, but y’know it’s weird situation to be in,” Eret admitted and wandered towards the window next to the enchanting cubby. It was a large window with rounded edges at the top with beautiful inserts of stained glass decorating it around the edges. He stared off at the world border and the cliff and furrowed his brows, Tommy did have a point, if this was one of Schlatt’s pranks then the world border made a lot of sense.

“You’re scared, Eret? Really? You??” Tommy teased and joined him at the window. Eret gave a playful shove on Tommy’s shoulder, “Oh hush you, I’m trying to be vulnerable here.” Tommy made an offended face at the shove but laughed, “That was your first mistake Eret, shoulda known not to be vulnerable in front of me!” Tommy returned the playful shove and soon both of them were laughing.

“Well excuse me, Mr. Innit!” Eret gave him a playful shove again and soon the two were darting back and forth, trying to dodge the other’s shove while also attempting to shove back. They dashed all around the library terrace, laughing and teasing each other, forgetting momentarily about their surroundings. Tommy was in pursuit of Eret, after the older man shoved him a bit too hard into the bookcase, “Oh you’re in for it now, Eret! Get back here!” He proclaimed while Eret just laughed. Tommy was close to catching up when suddenly Eret paused in front of the window, looking seemingly confused at something outside, but Tommy refused to accept defeat and went to shove Eret back, miscalculating his speed and Eret’s sudden stop. The shove caught Eret off guard and he was sent stumbling towards the window.

It happened so fast that Tommy barely recognized what happened. Before he knew it, the window cracked and Eret disappeared through the opening. The sunglassed man didn’t even have time to scream before his body hit the gravel outside with a dull snap. Tommy slapped his hands over his mouth to stifle his own scream, he knew what had happened, he didn’t need to look out the window to know. The window’s latch had been broken and neither of them noticed until too late. Eret found out the hard way.

“…Eret?” Tommy’s voice came out as a hoarse whisper as he slowly made his way towards the window. He didn’t want to look but… if there was even a possibility that Eret survived the fall…

He shouldn’t have looked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading!
> 
> We have our first death of the fic, with poor Eret taking a tumble out the window. I hope your hearts aren't too broken yet, because there's a lot more where that comes from!
> 
> Any guesses to who the Mastermind is yet? >:)
> 
> (Also, just as a note, I'm a full time college student, so chapters might not come out super fast depending on my workload for that week. I'll try my best to get these out as quick as I can!)


	4. Hook, Line, and Sinker

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The mastermind strikes, unaware that a player has already lost their life, and the group is shocked to realize the timing doesn't work out. Hearts break and people go missing, what will they do now?

((TRIGGER WARNING! There is death and descriptions of violence in this chapter, if you are triggered by these things I would suggest not reading from here on. It is very super graphic, but it is described with some detail. Please continue with care.))

Across the map in the same evening, Punz was pacing back and forth in the low lit library, after splitting up with Fundy. He had promised Fundy that he was going straight to his bedroom, that the two of them would be safe in their rooms alone. In reality, Punz only said that so he could get some breathing room away from Fundy so he could start processing what was actually happening. He had played Among Us hundreds of times, and became known for his detective skills which let him barely lose any of the games he was in. He just had to think of this as a game.

“Based on who is all here, there’s a few people who could be smart enough to kill. Dream and Techno are obvious choices, but the message was almost directly aimed at those two, which makes me think it isn’t them,” Punz thought aloud as he paced, “Tommy and Tubbo are both really good at Among Us, but only if they’re teamed up, and they looked pretty shaken up today.” He paused his pacing, swearing that he heard footsteps outside the doors. “The last person I think could actually see pulling this off is… Wilbur-“ He heard the footsteps again, this time louder. Maybe going off on his own was a mistake.

He looked out the window and noticed that sun had gone down, he didn’t mean to be out this late. He heard the footsteps again, this time behind him, “Okay, time to go,” He muttered and started moving towards the door. In the low light of the library, he didn’t notice the tripwire until the last moment, when his foot snagged on the wire- his heart dropped. Mere seconds later, he heard glass shatter and felt a splash potion cover him, his vision went black and he felt pain flood his body, the telltale signs of potions of poison and blindness. He stumbled forwards, the tripwire making him lose his balance and he fell forward, his head slamming into the doorframe and forcing him onto his hands and knees. The poison slowed his reaction time and he tried to reach forward to open to the door or make some sound to alert the others. He just wasn’t quick enough.

Before he knew what was happening, a tight wire was being wrapped around his neck, it yanked him back away from the door and he desperately reached up to fight off his attacker. The wire was so thin that he just couldn’t get a grip on it. The poison in his body only made him weaker, the blows he was aiming at the attacker’s arms doing nothing to slow the pressure on his neck. The breath was leaving his lungs and his brain was pounding from the lack of oxygen, he couldn’t breathe, and the poison was killing him from inside. In his last moments, he felt a breath next to his ear,

**“-you were so close to the truth, yet so far,”** The mastermind sneered in his ear, and at the last second, Punz suddenly understood the mastermind’s “truth”. _He recognized that voice_.

Punz’s body hit the floor with a dull thump, the mastermind stared down at the body, their face unreadable in the low light. They crouched down and placed a gloved hand on the inside of Punz’s wrist, checking for a pulse. They then let the wrist drop limply, satisfied to know that the player was indeed dead. **“A pity, they would have won if they were smart enough to protect you. It’s a good thing I found you first.”** They turned away and began walking back towards their hidden passage in the wall, their hand hesitated on the lever and looked back at the body, **“I do hope they find you sooner rather than later,”** They flipped the lever and the passage closed, looking just as normal as all the bookcases in the library.

* * *

It was early morning when Eret’s body was finally found, quite a few hours after his fatal fall from the second story. Niki was the one who found him, on her way to take a walk around the grounds with Wilbur, who was supposed to meet her by the fountain. She got out there first and spotted Eret’s broken body by the door, she immediately checked if he was alive, though in her heart she knew that human necks weren’t supposed to look like that. A few moments later she dragged Wilbur, Dream, Techno, and Phil outside to show them what had happened, since they were the only ones awake at that time.

“Holy shit,” Techno mumbled as the five of them looked down at the body. “He must have fallen, the window is still open on the second floor,” Phil pointed out as Niki draped a sheet over Eret’s corpse that she grabbed after telling the others. “Or he was pushed…” Dream countered, looking around for any evidence.

“I hate to agree, but Dream’s got a point, the Mastermind probably did this to get us to show he wasn’t kidding,” Techno added, staring up at the broken window latch “Eret probably didn’t even know the window was broken, all it would take would be a hard shove and down he goes…” The others went silent. That’s when the chat finally refreshed, and the body disappeared from under the sheet.

The_Eret hit the ground too hard whilst trying to escape  ꋖ ̶̬̊ ꂦ ̴̥͛ ꂵ ̷͙ ꂵ ̶̗̉ ꐞ ̶̳̓

“Poor guy…” Wilbur muttered, “The last thing he saw was probably the killer’s face…” helping Niki pick the sheet back up, Eret’s items mysteriously missing.

“Thanks to the glitched chat, we don’t know who did it either, should’ve known the mastermind wouldn’t make it that easy for us…” Dream joked darkly. It had only been a day and already someone had already lost their life, this Mastermind works fast, but then again Dream had no clue how long this killer had been planning this out. For all he knows, every single one of them had a death preplanned for them.

“Well, at least we now know that death messages only show up when we find the body, that’s something we didn’t know before.” Phil volunteered, trying so somewhat lighten the mood, but with one person already dead, there wasn’t much to lighten. Dream sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, taking a moment to think,

“We should probably wake the others and break the news to them,” He concluded, crouching down to pick up Eret’s sunglasses, the only thing left of the player, “This will prove we actually found him, and should prove to the others that this isn’t a prank.” The others nodded and they headed inside to break the news, only to find Tubbo on his way out. The sixteen year old looked shocked to see the group and stopped to look at them,

“Didn’t know I wasn’t the only early riser in the group,” he joked, but upon reading the faces of the others, his smile dropped, “What’s going on?” The group went silent for a moment, and they turned to Wilbur, who was the one closest to the boys. Wilbur sighed softly and broke away from the group to talk to Tubbo.

“This isn’t going to be easy to hear, but early this morning, Niki… found Eret’s body outside the house,” Wilbur said, figuring it would be easiest to rip the Band-Aid off quickly rather than to beat around the bush. Tears immediately started forming in Tubbo’s eyes, “…What?” His voice cracked with raw emotion, Wilbur said nothing, simply pulling Tubbo in for a hug. For a minute or two they stayed there, Tubbo crying into Wilbur while the other tried his best to not break down as well. Tubbo pulled away and wiped his eyes with his sleeve,

“I’ll go get Tommy,” he muttered, his tone almost defeated. “Want me to come with you?” Wilbur offered softly. “No… I think it’ll be easier if I did it, that way he doesn’t feel too embarrassed or anything,” Tubbo sniffled and tried to put himself back together, “I’ll be back with him in about fifteen minutes.” Wilbur nodded and watched him go, eyes full of worry.

“You okay?” Dream asked, resting a comforting hand on Wilbur’s shoulder. It was just the two of them in the room, the rest of the group went to wake the people who didn’t know for a meeting in the living room. “Not really,” Wilbur responded quickly, rubbing his nose with a sleeve, “But there’s not much to do about that, so I’ll get through it.” Dream only nodded, unsure what to say, so he simply kept Wilbur company while they waited.

The other members of the group filed in slowly, most looking confused and worried, while the ones who already knew sat down with a blank look on their faces. Despite all of them seeing death fairly frequently, it was different this time, it hit harder than anything had before. Some of them already knew, after all, you don’t get a group this big together over a change in weather. They just wanted to know who it was- which one of their friends wouldn’t be walking through the door. After about twenty minutes, Dream started to look over the crowd and count, including himself there should be fourteen people in the room, but he only counted eleven…He recounted, scanning the faces. Eleven.

“What?” he mumbled softly and counted again, reciting the names of the people in his head, “Wilbur, there’s fourteen of us alive right now, right?”

“Yeah, should be. Tubbo said he’d get Tommy to break the news, so they’re a little late, why?” Wilbur turned to Dream and didn’t like the look that was plastered across the blonde’s face.

“Including those two, I’m only counting thirteen…”

“What?” Wilbur turned to look at the crowd, counting quickly inside his head as he looked from face to face, “That can’t be right, there should only be one of us missing, who isn’t here besides Tubbo and Tommy?” Dream scanned the crowd again, assured that he wasn’t counting wrong, and went through the list of names in his head when his heart skipped a beat,

“Where’s Punz?”

* * *

Tubbo went back to his room, he thought for sure that Tommy was there last night, after all they agreed to room together so that no one could sneak up on them. The buddy system and all that. However… he was really tired last night after all that had happened during the day, was it possible Tommy never came back to the room? His pace quickened, and by the time he got to their room at the end of the hall, he was practically jogging.

“Tommy? Tommy are you in here?” He called, dashing from place to place, checking every corner, under the bed, in the closet, “Tommy, I’m not in the mood for jokes!” He called, his heart rate starting to elevate. He went room to room, calling for Tommy in each one of the bedrooms, in case Tommy had slept somewhere else last night, but there was no sign of him anywhere.

“This isn’t good, this isn’t good.” He muttered to himself, he started to look around the whole house, the garden was empty, so was the indoor pool and the trophy room. Tubbo ran up the stairs, practically taking two at a time, his voice getting louder as he started panicking more. “Tommy?! Tommy where are you?!” There weren’t too many rooms on the second floor, the two ballrooms took up most of the space, there were three small closets full of jackets and janitorial supplies, but Tommy wasn’t in any of them. Tubbo was full on panicking at this point, but suddenly remembered the library. There was an entrance to it on the second floor, and if he looked from above he would be able to see in every corner of the downstairs portion. He threw the door open and dashed for the railing, craning his head down to look for any clues, that’s when he saw broken glass. He tried to look closer but it was under his feet, he’d have to look from the first floor entrance. He ran back down the stairs, the rest of the house was deathly silent, the only sound being his shoes as he ran down the carpeted hallway. He ripped open one side of the double doors and stopped dead in his tracks. Just in front of him was the dead corpse of Punz, and around him was shattered glass and… a fishing rod?

He closed the door quickly, breathing hard as his brain processed the scene and more adrenaline flooded his body. He should tell Wilbur and the others- but Tommy was still missing, what if Tommy’s body was lying somewhere around the mansion waiting to be found? It was hard to breathe with all of the information flooding his head, but he was startled out of it when a whisper message floated across his screen. A chill went through his body as he read the words and suddenly an eerie drone, similar to the sounds he was used to hearing in caves echoed through his head.

_“Keep your mind on the goal.”_

* * *

It had been twenty five minutes, and Wilbur was ready to leave the living room to go get the boys, there was a killer roaming around the house and with three people unaccounted for… His mind went to the worst case scenario and the only reason he hadn’t ran out five minutes ago was because Niki told him they needed time. He could go get them if they weren’t back by thirty minutes, but it could just be that the death was hitting the boys hard and they needed more time. He paced in front of the fireplace, the scorch marks from the fire yesterday did nothing but taunt him. He was going to rip that mastermind piece by piece when he found them.

“Wil, maybe you should sit down,” Phil’s voice broke him out of his thoughts and he realized that both Techno and Phil looked worried for him. “N-No, I have to be ready,” Wilbur shook them off and resumed his pacing. “Ready for what, Wilbur? There’s nothing we can do right now but wait…” Phil stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. Wilbur whipped around to look at him, “What if they need me? I should’ve gone with Tubbo, I’m such an idiot…” He struggled to keep his voice steady, his eyes darting around Phil’s face for some sort of sign. Phil placed both hands on Wilbur’s shoulders to steady him, “Wil, you have to trust that if they need you, they’ll come and get you. They’re strong boys, you can’t watch over them forever…” Wilbur sighed and his shoulders slumped, “I know… I just can’t help the feeling that something is terribly wrong…”

Suddenly, the doors to the living room from the hallway slammed open and Tubbo came racing through, hand on the doorframe to steady himself. His forehead was slick with sweat and his eyes were wild, and he glanced around until he met Wilbur’s eyes.  
“Punz is dead, and I can’t find Tommy anywhere.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two down, thirteen to go.
> 
> Who will live? Who will die? Only time will tell...
> 
> Thank you so much for reading! I really loved all of your theories, feel free to keep them coming! I can't tell you whether or not your correct or not, but they are very entertaining...


	5. Fish bait

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tommy is missing and Punz is dead. The mastermind works quickly, and the group has no clue how to track them down. Detective Dream is on the case, but there's only one problem: he is just as suspicious as the Mastermind...

“What do you mean you can’t find him?” were the first words out of Wilbur’s mouth as Tubbo tried to catch his breath, the first part of the sentence completely going over his head. “I-I looked everywhere! He’s not in any of the rooms on the first or second floors!” Tubbo gasped, Fundy left the room and jogged to the kitchen, grabbing Tubbo a glass of water so he could calm down and explain things more thoroughly.

“Did he say Punz was dead?” Jack interjected, glancing back at the Dream Team, who looked to be somewhat in a state of shock at the news. Dream approached Tubbo carefully, the younger gratefully gulping down the water. “Tubbo I know that this is a lot to process, but I need to know where you found Punz.” Dream said carefully, not wanting to traumatize him any further. Tubbo took a deep breath and turned to face Dream.

“He was in the library. I-I barely caught a glimpse of it before I ran here, I was so scared it was Tommy, but the shirt was white, not red.” Tubbo stuttered, trying his best to sound brave. “Thank you, stay here until you catch your breath, we’ll find Tommy and we’ll sort this all out, it’s gonna be okay.” Dream offered a small smile and Tubbo seemed to relax somewhat at the gesture before turning back to Wilbur and drinking more of his water.

Dream turned back to Sapnap and George and nodded his head towards the door, “We need to go to the library before Punz’s body disappears, there might be clues.” He spoke softly, trying to avoid having Tubbo overhear. The other two nodded and they made their way out the door, but before they were halfway through the hall, a voice stopped them.

“Wait! Let me come with, I might be able to help.” Techno jogged to join them, “I’ve not been to many crime scenes, but I know a good amount about PvP, so that might be of some worth,” he smiled awkwardly. Dream paused for a moment, but smiled back, “I’d be glad to have your perspective, Techno,” He said and the four walked briskly down to the library, unprepared for the sight they were about to see.

Punz was laid on his side, fishing line wrapped tightly around his neck, the line still connected to a fishing rod which was dropped about a block away. Just in front of him was what looked to be the remains of splash potions, some of the glass still covered with its contents.

“Holy shit,” George whispered, this crime scene was much more violent than Eret’s and it was clear that this one was premeditated. The Dream team stayed silent for a moment as they stood in the doorway, they had fought a war with the man now lying dead on the floor, and he was part of their little family on the SMP. He didn’t deserve this kind of death. It was slow and painful, and it was likely that Punz knew who killed him and felt the betrayal first hand.

“Who would do something like this?” Sapnap asked as they carefully made their way around the crime scene, “I don’t think any of us are this violent…” He knelt down to look at the fishing line, which was coated in dried blood from the small cuts it made when used to strangle Punz. “Based on how cold his body is, I’m pretty sure this happened sometime last night, maybe even earlier,” Techno added, gingerly feeling Punz’s wrist to check for a pulse, even though all of them knew there wouldn’t be one.

Dream stayed by the door, kneeling down to investigate the broken potion glass. Some of them were coated in a sickly green color, which he recognized as a Potion of Poison, and some were coated in thick black residue and smelled of ink, which Dream guessed was a Potion of Blindness. He glanced up at the ceiling and found a dispenser smiling down at him, how had they not noticed this before? He looked around for a button or a lever, something for the Mastermind to have used to activate the dispenser.

“Dream.” George was one step ahead of him and pointed towards the floor between two of the bookshelves. A trip wire sat limp on the ground, Punz had probably activated it by accident when trying to leave, but how did he not trip it when he first came in? Plus, Punz was a very intelligent guy, he would have noticed the tripwire on the ground right as he entered, unless… Dream glanced around the room and noticed that the majority of the lighting was Redstone lamps, this meant that they had to be powered in order to light the room. “Holy shit.” Dream echoed George’s earlier comment as he looked around the room, feeling a chill go down his spine. “What is it?” George asked, not following Dream’s train of thought.

“This whole room must be trapped. The lights are Redstone activated, meaning the mastermind could have switched off the lights so Punz would never have even seen the trip wire,” He said, pointing out the various lights scattered around the library, “I’m willing to bet the whole house is trapped, the Mastermind has all of this figured out to a tee. Whoever this person is, they’re smart. Deadly smart.” He breathed, the realization setting in, but shook off the shock and turned to the body, only to watch it disappear in a puff of smoke.

Punz was killed by  ɮ̵̘̦̘̞̫͔̬͉͉͍̗͆̏͜ʊ̴̧̔ ̣ ̦̥͚̱̰ ȶ̷̛͕̤̠̥̲̈́̂͊̌̒͊̎̿͜͝͝ օ̷͠ ̊ ̡̧͎̺̫͔͂̓̈́ɮ̸̇͂̌͒͠͝͝ ̃ ̠̻̪͐͆̿ _̸̓ ̨͙̤̺̻̮͕͊  using magic

“More glitched text,” Dream sighed, carefully stepping over the glass to stand next to Sapnap, who gingerly grabbed the abandoned gold chain Punz always wore. There seemed to be an item left over from every dead body, either to prove their death or to taunt those still alive. Sap stared down at the object and sighed, looking away as he stuffed it in his pocket, rubbing at his eyes as if to prevent tears. Dream pulled him in to a side hug and took a moment to grieve the loss, looking for clues could wait for a moment, they needed time.

Techno’s hand hovered over the chat, staring at the message, after a few moments he called out to Dream, “This name seems to be more glitched out than the last one,” he pointed out and Dream frowned, bringing up his own chat box. He scrolled up to Eret’s death message and compared the two, seeing there was indeed a difference, “This one looks harder to decipher than the other one, why would the killer not use the same glitch twice?” He asked, looking at Techno, who slowly stood up, his face gravely serious. “Because there’s two killers.” Techno said, staring Dream down.

“What are you talking about?” George piped up, looking between the two rivals with a confused look. Dream hesitated, “It makes sense… We estimated Eret’s time of death as yesterday evening, and Techno estimated Punz’s death around the same time. Considering the two bodies were found on opposite sides of the map, it seems unlikely that the Mastermind killed both of them.” He mused, walking around the crime scene, “Its possible that Eret’s death was an accident, and if it wasn’t, then the Mastermind has to be working with someone else, they could have committed the crimes at the same time- a double murder.” He knelt down to look at the fishing rod, letting his words sink in for the others.

“So now we’re not only worried about one killer, but two?” Sapnap complained, watching the two PvPers investigate the remnants left of the crime scene. “Technically there might not be a mastermind. The message did say that the goal was for us to kill each other, it’s possible two different people within the group killed Punz and Eret.” George pointed out, leaning on a bookshelf out of the others’ way. “Great, thanks for the clarification George,” Sapnap snarked back. “I’m just saying it’s a possibility!” George argued.

“Guys!” Dream scolded, “Can we stay on topic?” He motioned towards the fishing rod, the line now lying flat on the ground, bloody and tangled. “Sorry, Dream…” The two echoed and stayed quiet to let Dream and Techno think. “Did anyone have a fishing rod on them from the teleport?” Dream asked, looking up at Techno, “I didn’t have one cause I was building before the teleport,”

Techno grimaced, “As much as I don’t want to say this- I did have one on me. I was PvPing before the teleport and forgot to put it away.” He admitted, and the others looked at him with neutral looks, “And this is gonna make it sound worse- but when I woke up this morning, my fishing rod was missing… I thought the mastermind took it from my inventory but…” He glanced over at the fishing rod, “It’s possible that it’s mine…”

“You realize that doesn’t sound good, right?” Dream cocked an eyebrow at the pink haired man. “Yeah no shit, but it would look worse if I didn’t tell you and you found out on your own,” Techno fired back, and Dream had to nod his head in agreement, “That’s fair.” He admitted.

“Isn’t the trophy room next door?” George asked, “I didn’t look very hard in there the other day, but I did notice there was a fishing section, there could have been fishing rods in there,” He defended Techno, the man flashing a grateful look to the Brit. “Could you and Sapnap take a look and see if there’s one missing?” Dream asked, and the other two reluctantly agreed, worried to leave Dream in the company of a possible murderer. When they left, the library went quiet and the two rivals looked at each other, both trying to discern whether or not the other was the mastermind.

“I have to admit, as good as you are at PvP, this isn’t really your M.O.” Dream broke the silence, carefully picking up the bloody fishing rod and placing it in a chest with the shards of glass. “Well, no offence, but this kinda is yours, other than the fishing rod,” Techno added, glancing at the trip wire and the dispenser, “I mean, a trap with potions? That sounds like something straight out of your manhunts,” Dream winced at Techno’s comments.

“Well…” He sighed, “If we operate under the assumption that neither of us _are_ the Mastermind, then I think it’s safe to say that this crime scene was meant to pin the blame on one of us, and it’s a good plan,” Dream rubbed his face, this whole situation becoming a lot more complex than it was before. “We are the only ones known for being psychopaths, that’s true, but it’s all an act! I don’t want anyone to die permanently, and I assume you’re the same.” Techno leaned back against the bookcase. Dream nodded and the two stayed silent for a few moments, trying to process the two deaths they had seen today. Dream wouldn’t lie when he said he was suspicious of Techno, the fishing rod stuck out too much in his mind, but the killer would most likely have had to wear gloves to prevent the fishing line from cutting their hands, and Dream had never seen Techno wear gloves, and from a simple glance Dream could see that Techno’s hands weren’t cut up.

He needed to stop thinking about _who_ the killer was. He didn’t have nearly enough information yet. He needed to focus on _how_ Punz died and what clues he could get from the crime scene, no matter how careful a killer is, there are always mistakes and Dream had to find them. “Let’s say the trip wire wasn’t active when Punz walked in, the killer would want his victim to be alone, so he couldn’t activate the trap until he knew someone was alone.” Dream stood in front of the door and walked forward, stepping over the relaxed trip wire, “Punz is in the center of the room, and the killer activates the trip wire. Punz goes to leave and his foot snags on the wire, activating the trap. The potions fall down and make him blind and in pain, based on the wire’s placement- he probably tripped and fell.” Dream followed Punz’s route and was back by the door, “But why didn’t he leave? The door was right there, and Punz could have gotten up and ran even with the potions’ effects, why didn’t he?” He scanned the area, staring at every small detail- that’s when he found it. A small patch of blood near the bottom of the door frame. “He hit his head on the way down, combining a concussion with the two potions… The killer probably had more than enough time to attack him with the fishing rod.” Dream stepped back and thought to how the body was placed. Punz was on his side, one of his feet was behind him and one was in front, his hands were close to his face and his eyes were staring at the door. “His body was facing the door… when he was disoriented on the ground, the killer must have come up behind him and wrapped the line around his neck to drag him away from the door so no one would hear him, the poison used must have not been very strong because the killer wrapped the fishing line around his neck several times and pulled it tightly enough to suffocate him.” Techno suddenly cut him off. “How do you know he suffocated to death? What if the killer just used the fishing line to keep him away from the door?” He suggested. Dream frowned and thought back to how Punz’s body was laying, “It’s possible… but Punz put up a fight before he died. One of his legs were tucked underneath him and the other was in front of him, probably trying to stand and get the killer to let go of the wire. Plus his hands were up by his face, probably trying to get the killer to let go. From what I remember before his body disappeared, his eyes were red, potions don’t do that- but lack of oxygen does.” Dream concluded, Techno watching his deduction with morbid curiosity,

“How do you know all this?” He muttered, and Dream laughed awkwardly, “Because of my manhunt series and my unsolved series, I’ve had to do a lot of research. Also I’ve watched a lot of crime shows,” He claimed. Before Techno could respond, George and Sapnap returned from the trophy room.

“There’s quite a few fishing rods in there, but it looks like one of them _is_ missing, we looked for it around the room but we couldn’t find it anywhere.” George said, surprised to see the library mostly cleaned up, “Did you find anything?” he asked. Dream glanced at Techno but answered George anyways,

“We think Punz died by suffocation, but since the game doesn’t have that as a death message option, it resorted to saying the potions killed him. The fishing line was too bloody and too much of it was wrapped around his neck for it to not have been strangulation.” He concluded, and George and Sapnap seemed to agree.

“I thought the same thing,” Sapnap added, “While you and George were looking at the broken glass, I took a closer look at his body, and there were fingernail scratches on his neck, probably from him trying to get the line off his neck,” He said, seeming to have recovered slightly from before. The confirmation did nothing to comfort the four though, Punz was still dead and they had to tell the others that this one was premeditated. It was possible Eret fell from the window, and that it was an accident, but this one? This was clearly murder. The only thing that assured Dream that Eret’s was also murder, was the fact that the death message claimed someone was fighting him before he fell.

“Well… if the killer is following his same tactic as before, I think somebody else is going to die tonight if we don’t find out who it is…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> 13 out of 15 characters are alive. Who will be the hunter and who will be the prey, have you figured it out yet? Or are you just as clueless as the ones trapped in the mansion...
> 
> Who is the mastermind and who is the name behind the glitch? Only time will tell...


	6. Lightning in a Bottle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The search for Tommy is in full swing. Skeppy and Bad go to the basement while Wilbur and Tubbo search the upper floors. Both teams terrified that they won't find Tommy in time.

Almost everyone in the house helped in the search for Tommy, they broke up into groups of two and Phil gave them directions on where to search. Two teams went down to the basement level, Jack and Fundy and then Bad and Skeppy. Because the group hadn’t really explored the basement rooms yet, they figured it would be safer for them to send two groups instead of one.

The basement was much less pristine than the rest of the mansion, it looked like a giant cavern where rooms were roughly squared out with dark oak planks. The basement was also not very lit up which caused both groups to feel a bit uneasy, as they could hear skeletons and zombies every now and then in the distance.

“How large is this place?” Bad marveled as the two groups reached the basement landing, looking out into the maze of rooms. “I have no clue, and the lack of light doesn’t exactly help,” Jack replied striking up a torch for light and handed Skeppy another one, “I’m guessing we split up?” the blue clad man suggested, “We’ll take the right, you take the left?”

“Sounds good, shout if you find anything.” Fundy nodded and they were off, both sides praying that they wouldn’t be finding a body in their side of the basement. Skeppy would be lying if he thought they were going to find Tommy alive and well. At this point, the kid had been missing for over forty-five minutes, possibly all night. Tubbo admitted he couldn’t remember seeing Tommy last night, and if Tommy was alive? He had a lot of explaining to do. After all, with two people dead and him having no one to vouch for his innocence? It wasn’t looking good. Bad was holding out hope that Tommy was alive, but he wasn’t quite sure if Tommy was completely innocent, he liked to see the best in people but…

“Skeppy, who do you think is doing all this?” Bad broke the silence as they checked the first room. It wasn’t much, the back wall was covered in furnaces, with coal blocks in the corner, but no sign of Tommy. “I have no clue; I feel like anyone here could do it. Techno feels too obvious, and he’s kind of a bad liar. I can see Phil doing this kind of thing, though, Hardcore worlds are his whole brand.” Skeppy shrugged, holding the door open for Bad as they went back into the hallway. “Wow, I never even thought it could be Phil, kinda makes sense though… Wilbur is pretty good at Among Us, so I can see him trying to do something like this, that or Tubbo under the same reasoning.” Bad mentioned softly as he glanced into the next room. It was similar to the last one, a workshop of some sort, with crafting tables and tools hung on the wall, but no Tommy, “but no one here is a murderer…”

“Well obviously one of us is a murderer, Bad,” Skeppy said casually, investigating the chests in the room for any supplies, pocketing a stack of obsidian, “Cause y’know… Eret and Punz are dead.” Bad frowned at this,

“That’s not funny, Geppy.” Bad snatched the torch out of Skeppy’s hand and went back into the hallway, “I’m just saying the truth! Statistically, someone here is a killer!” Skeppy defended himself, trying to grab the torch back from Bad. As they argued they went to the third door.

The third room was the one that scared them the most. It was a large, open space, somehow larger than the cavern that they had just come from, at least… it felt that way. Bad suddenly grabbed onto Skeppy’s arm. “There’s something wrong about this place, something unnatural…” he whispered. At the end of the room was a mineshaft, a single minecart sitting on the rails, waiting for a player to transport. Both of them stared at the cart, hesitating to trust anything in this horrid mansion, but it almost felt like it was… calling to them? Skeppy took a step forward, almost in a trance of curiosity, but Bad’s hand on his arm stopped him, he looked back and noticed how uneasy Bad was about the room. Bad wordlessly shook his head, Skeppy couldn’t help but look back at the minecart.

“What if Tommy is down there? It’s worth a look, Bad.” Skeppy’s voice echoed terribly in the room and they both shuddered at the sound. “Geppy, everything about this room screams that it’s a trap. There’s literally one minecart, we shouldn’t be here.” Bad whisper-shouted, trying to avoid the echo. “What if whoever owns this place just always had a minecart ready for him? It’s a possibility!” Skeppy whisper-argued back, not wanting to let go of this mysterious room.

“Maybe! Or maybe there’s some sort of saw blade trap that cuts your head off if you ride it!”

“Bad, don’t be ridiculous! How would they even set that up?!”

“I don’t know!! Pistons or something!!”

“Oh sure pistons-“ Skeppy cut himself off as a message floated across his screen.

_Ph1LzA whispers to you: Any updates? Wilbur thinks he might have found Tommy_

Bad glanced down at his screen, a second message coming in below Phil’s:

_Dream whispers to you: We need to talk to you, we have a theory on who’s doing this, but we want your input._

“You get the same message from Phil, right?” Skeppy hesitated in sending his response, looking up at Bad, the minecart suddenly out of his mind. Bad nodded, already moving towards the door, “I got one from Dream too, he says he and the other boys want my input on a theory.” He said as the two began walking back towards the stairs. “Interesting, let me know what they said later, okay?” Bad smiled and ruffled his best friend’s hair at the top of the stairs, “Always. I’ll meet you in the library, okay?”

Skeppy watched Bad walk away and disappear into the Dream Team’s room and his smile slowly dropped.

“Okay…”

* * *

Wilbur and Tubbo were sent to search the upper floors, because the floors up there were so small, it was easy for two people to check them quickly while the rest of the group searched the first floor and grounds of the Mansion. Tubbo was still shaky from what Wilbur could see, but they both knew that the only way to ease their fears was to find Tommy.

“I’m going to check the attic, I didn’t do that before,” Tubbo announced quickly as they reached the second-floor landing. “I’m coming with you, then” Wilbur decided, but Tubbo shook him off, “No, you need to check this floor, I’ve already looked through it so I won’t be as thorough, plus you know Tommy in a different way than I know him, you might notice something I didn’t,” Tubbo argued, neither of them wanting to waste precious time. “Tubbo I can’t lose you too…” Wilbur’s voice cracked, torn between his two boys. Tubbo dashed forward and wrapped his arms around Wilbur,

“You won’t. If I see anything sketchy, I’ll yell. Promise.” He assured Wilbur. The other stayed in the hug for a moment, the thought flashing through his mind that this could be the last time he hugged Tubbo, “Just… stay safe, please,” Wilbur begged, blinking away tears.

“I will.” With that, Tubbo quickly ascended the ladder in the northeast section of the second floor, out of sight in mere seconds. The attic was dark, but the large rose window in the north wall let the natural light in, so he didn’t have to strain his eyes too much.

“Tommy? Tommy are you in here?” He tried to stay calm, the more panicked he was the more he would miss details. He heard a thump on the opposite side of the room, and he immediately headed in that direction, “It’s just me! Tubbo! I promise I’m not mad or anything!” He called again, heading towards the large, Narnia-esque wardrobe in the corner of the attic, the one area not lit up by the Rose window. His hand rested on the wardrobe’s knob and he called softly one last time, “Tommy?”

In the back corner of the wardrobe, Tommy sat curled in on himself, his face buried in his arms, which were crossed over his tucked in knees, only his scared blue eyes looking at Tubbo. “Tommy!” Tubbo immediately climbed into the wardrobe and threw his arms around his best friend, “You scared me so much!” he blinked away the tears in his eyes. Tommy said nothing for a moment, and then he dissolved into sobs, tightly clutching onto Tubbo. They sat there for a few minutes, with Tubbo trying to gently calm Tommy down with soft words.

“It’s okay, you’re okay…” Tubbo soothed as Tommy began to quiet down, “What happened? Why are you up here?” Tommy pulled away as Tubbo softly asked his questions. He sniffled and rubbed at his eyes, “It was all an accident, I-I didn’t mean to!” the words came tumbling out of his mouth, “We were just messing around an-and he just stopped and I ran into him and he just… he just fell…” Tommy’s voice was hoarse from crying, and Tubbo had to quickly piece the info together. “You pushed Eret?” He asked and Tommy only nodded, unsure of his voice, “but it was an accident?”

“Yes!” Tommy confessed, “We were messing around and we were laughing and it made me feel like all of this was just a joke and-and then he just stopped at the window, like he saw something, but I couldn’t stop in time and he tripped and the window just flew open! And he fell… I didn’t know what to do, I thought everyone would kill me, so I just ran…” He cried, holding onto Tubbo as if his life depended on it, “I don’t know what to do, Tubbo…”

“We… We’ll just modify the truth…” Tubbo finally said, “It won’t exactly the truth, but it isn’t a lie, either.”

“What?”

“We’ll say that you and Eret were both at the window when someone came up behind you and pushed you guys. You managed to grab onto the side of the window and so you didn’t fall but Eret did, and the killer started chasing you to prevent you from telling us. You managed to lose them on the second floor but you climbed up into the attic to make sure they wouldn’t find you. You didn’t know how much time had passed and you were terrified to leave in case the Mastermind was waiting for you. You only knew it was safe when you heard me calling.” Tubbo explained, “That way they can’t blame you for any deaths because you didn’t cause any.”

Tommy searched Tubbo’s face for anything, not used to hearing Tubbo say things like this outside of Among Us, “Won’t they ask me who the mastermind is then, ‘cause I technically would have seen their face when I survived…” He questioned slowly. “Just say they were wearing a mask! It’s believable enough for the mastermind to want to hide their identity as much as possible.” Tubbo blurted, “Just think of this as Among Us, the group will have to believe your story. It was just an accident, so they don’t need to know.”

“I don’t know if I can do this, Tubbo…”

“You have to, Tommy! I can’t do this without you…”

Wilbur stood a few feet away from the wardrobe, unbeknownst to the two, hearing the muffled conversation between his boys. He didn’t hear much- but he heard enough. Tubbo said that it was an accident… Did Tommy _and_ Tubbo kill Eret? The betrayal at L’Manberg could have been their motive but _why?_... They both knew it was a game… He couldn’t believe what he was hearing, but it did make a surprising amount of sense.

Tubbo said it was an accident. Wil would just have to believe them, he wouldn’t speak a word about this to anyone else. He backed up slowly and quietly made his way down the stairs, when the boys came down, he would pretend he knew nothing, and he’d support their little charade.

Kids make mistakes, and that’s all this was.

Just a mistake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> I told you that Tommy would be okay... for now at least ;)  
> 13/15 Alive
> 
> I'm loving your theories so far! Your evidence is so compelling that it's making me convinced that someone else is the Mastermind- and I know who the mastermind is! So keep up the good work! Just remember not to stay stubborn on one suspect, for it might blind you from the evidence our mastermind does leave behind.
> 
> Good luck!


	7. Accusations and Applications

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bad meets up with the Dream Team to help them sort out their potential suspect while Techno talks to Phil about his potential suspect. Lines are being drawn. Can the group survive these accusations? Or will they fall apart as the Mastermind wants them to...

Phil was the only one left in the library, he was the home base of operations, so to speak, and he facilitated conversation between all of the different search parties. He **hated** it. He was pacing in front of the fireplace, mirroring Wilbur’s route from earlier as he stared at the chat screen for any updates. He wanted to be out there helping look, one of his boys’ lives were on the line and he was in the library doing nothing. It was one of the worst feelings on the planet. Plus, with Punz being dead, it only proved that the Mastermind was working fast, it was possible that Tommy was the third victim to this mansion.

He was startled out of his thoughts by the hallway entrance to the living room opening, a familiar face being the only person coming in. “Techno? I thought you were with Dream and them,” Phil asked, scanning his pseudo-son for any injuries or signs of ill, but Techno just looked… tired. “I was, they finished their investigation and promised to meet back here once they finished doing something in their room. I figured I should come back to say what we found, but it looks like I’m the first one back.” Techno flopped down on the couch with a big sigh, the gesture full of unsaid emotions. Phil softly took a seat next to him and asked, “What did you find?”

“To be honest? A lot more incriminating evidence… Punz was killed by potions _and_ strangulation by fishing line, which is only gonna make Dream’s and my life a helluva lot harder…” Techno grumbled, pulling the signature crown off his head and onto the cushion Phil wasn’t occupying. This gesture usually indicated to Phil that Techno was genuinely upset; Over the years he had learned what different signals meant from Techno, since the man rarely ever said what he felt unless asked.

“Fishing line, eh? Sounds like this Mastermind thinks we’re dumb enough to think that’s enough evidence to damn you both. I mean, fishing rods are so common, and they’re easy to make. Anyone here could use a fishing rod to kill. Also- it isn’t really your style to use potions, so I’m not sure what this “mastermind” is trying to get at.” Phil said casually, pulling off his bucket hat to ruffle his hair. Techno watched this and smiled slightly, grateful that Phil trusted him so much, in his heart- he was terrified that Wilbur and Phil would abandon him.

“I… This is gonna sound horrible- but…” Techno paused and looked away, already feeling guilty for what he was about to say, “I think it might be Dream…” Phil frowned at this, it was far too early to be making assumptions, but he had to hear Techno out, “I feel like he might be _trying_ to make it obviously him. If it’s obvious, no one will take it seriously, and he’s been at both crime scenes so far. He’s clearly smart enough to pull this off, and he knows George and Sapnap would stay loyal- hell they might even be in on it.” Techno stood and began pacing back and forth in front of Phil.

“Well… that does sound like a smart plan- but why would Dream do this? The whole psychopath thing is just a bit for his videos, I mean, you do the same thing, but you aren’t an insane killer.” Phil piped up, “If this wasn’t a hardcore world, I’d be inclined to believe Dream would do this, but Dream’s not the type to perma-kill players.” He pulled the bucket hat back onto his head and leaned back against the couch, “Plus isn’t it a bit early to accuse people?”

“I mean- yeah, but I really don’t want to see any more bodies turn up. Two is enough- more than enough, actually.” Techno agreed somewhat reluctantly, “But you weren’t there, Phil. Dream walked through how Punz died with scary accuracy. I mean, the way he talked made it seem like he was there."

“He is really smart, though,” Phil pointed out, grabbing the crown and placing it on Techno’s head, “I’ve played Among Us with him and he’s really good at finding imposters, he remembers everyone’s movements and where they’ve gone- it’s actually pretty intense. He’s a great crewmate.” He said as he straightened the crown, a movement he’d done countless times. Techno sighed,

“You’re right… Now I feel bad…” He grumbled, watching Phil bring up his chat and begin sending out whisper messages. “Don’t feel bad, Techno, you’re just trying to do the best for everyone, we’re not exactly in a normal situation. Tensions are bound to run high.” Phil shrugged, paying close attention to the responses he was receiving, “Good news, Wilbur says he thinks he found Tommy, he should be down soon.” Phil said, his shoulders sagging in relief at the news. “I mean, cockroaches are said to be impossible to kill, so that makes sense,” Techno teased with an easy grin. Phil laughed but sent a light glare in Techno’s direction,

“Oh shush, be nice to him,”

* * *

“I’m just saying, he’s acting kind of sus!”

“You say that about everyone!”

“Well it’s not exactly like I’ve been in this situation before!”

Bad watched his boys argue from the doorway, none of them noticing him coming in from the hallway, “Am I interrupting something?” He asked in the lull between arguments, trying to keep the chuckle out of his voice. The three looked up in shock at his sudden arrival, but were relieved to see the third hunter. “Nope, those two are just arguing again,” Dream pointed out with an amused smile, looking up from the book he was writing in. Bad took a seat at the end of the king-sized bed in the room, “So! You said you had a theory?” he prompted.

“Yes! So you know how we went to go check out the library where Punz died?” Sapnap started, cutting George off before the blue clad man could speak, “Well Techno joined us in the investigation, and he seemed really sus,”

“He was not acting suspicious, Sapnap,” George rolled his eyes, cutting the younger man off in retaliation, “He just happens to be one of the people who use fishing rods a lot in PvP.” George crossed his arms over his chest. “Fishing rods?” Bad asked, looking towards Dream, “I thought Punz died from potions, that’s what the death message said, anyways.”

“Kinda, we think Potions did the majority of the damage, but the finishing blow was suffocation by fishing line,” Dream clarified and Bad shuddered at the visual that came into his head, “Blegh, that’s kinda personal. What else did you find?” Dream set down his quill and flipped back through his notes, “There’s a lot, so let me know if you have a question,-

“-We think he died around the same time as Eret, but we think this one was premeditated while the other one was accidental. There was a tripwire on the ground that Punz must not have seen in the low light, and that activated a splash potion of Poison and Blindness to drop on him. He tripped over the wire and hit his head on the door which gave him a concussion. At that point, the killer came up behind him with the fishing rod and pulled him away from the door and pulled until Punz stopped breathing.” Dream finished, reading Bad the abridged version.

“Oh and Dream is writing all this stuff down ‘cause he’s a nerd.” Sapnap teased, causing Dream to throw his mask at him. Sapnap dodged and caught the mask with a grin, “I’m keeping this now-“ He said and pulled the mask over his face. Dream stood to grab it back, but Bad beat him to it, snatching the mask off Sap’s face and giving a stern look to the boys, “Stay on topic, you two. You still haven’t mentioned your theory.” The boys fell quiet and looked at each other, silently trying to urge the other to speak. Dream sighed and took the lead again,

“For the record, I’m not completely sold on this theory, it just makes a little too much sense,” He started, closing his notebook and rested it next to the quill, “Based on this scene, there’s a lot of evidence pointing towards Technoblade. He admitted that he had a fishing rod when he TP’ed in, but that he noticed this morning that it was missing. There’s also a missing fishing rod in the Trophy Room, so we aren’t sure which one was used to kill Punz. Sapnap pointed out that Techno actually uses potions pretty well in his Skyblock Tournaments and that he _could_ have rigged the potion trap to incriminate me. Finally, why would the killer use a fishing rod unless they knew Techno had it? So it's either Techno, or someone close to Techno.” Dream finished and Bad stayed silent for a few moments and thought through the information that had been presented to him.

“Well…” Bad spoke slowly, picking his words carefully, “I think it’s a bit too early to accuse someone without any solid evidence, but these are good points that I think we should keep in mind.” He said, standing up to hand Dream his mask back, “I’m not sure if Phil messaged you muffins, but Wilbur thinks he found Tommy and Phil asked to meet up in the living room,” Bad said.

“Yeah, we told Techno that we’d meet him there too, probably should have gone a long time ago,” Dream chuckled nervously and pocketed his book and quill, moving to the door to hold it open for the others.

“I swear, if Tommy isn’t dead, Wilbur’s gonna kill him for the stress the gremlin put him through…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! -and sorry for the somewhat short chapter, it's just to give you guys more time to breathe before the next death, keep your eyes open for the next victim!
> 
> 13/15 Alive...?
> 
> As always, I love hearing your theories, so keep them coming! I'll try to answer the questions I can, but no promises ;)
> 
> (Also have y'all seen the drama going down in the SMP? It's kinda crazy, but also very addicting to watch)


	8. Puppy Chow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fundy and Jack continue to look for Tommy, unaware he had already been found, and the group meets back up to discuss the clues they have found thus far.

** ((TRIGGER WARNING: Death and animal violence. Not much description of the violence, but worth noting if you are sensitive to these subjects.) **

Fundy and Jack went down the left hallway, mirroring Skeppy and Bad as they investigated rooms in the hallway. Most of the rooms were empty, filled with dust and cobwebs that were too pristine for Tommy to have run in. In one of the rooms, they thought they found something, but it turned out to be a cave spider that was thoroughly pissed at the two players entering its space. Jack smacked it away with the torch before they slammed the door shut. It went on like this for about ten minutes when they suddenly came across a fork in the road, so to speak. The hallway dead ended into two more hallways, one to the left and one to the right, looking eerily similar to the area where they first separated from Bad and Skeppy.

“We have to split up,” Fundy decided quickly, walking towards the left hallway. “Wait! Are you sure that’s a good idea? Eret and Punz are _dead_ , this place is sketchy, and a killer could be hiding around any corner.” Jack stopped him, a hand on Fundy’s shoulder, eyes concerned under the red and blue lenses. “We don’t exactly have a choice, Jack, the longer Tommy is missing, the more likely it is that _he’ll_ be dead.” Fundy stressed; fox ears plastered back to his head in fear for his fellow L’Manbergian. Jack hesitated, his gut told him that splitting up was a horrible idea, but Fundy was right. Tommy’s life was on the line, and neither of them wanted to see Tommy dead, no matter how annoying he could be.

“Fine.” Jack breathed in defeat and began to walk towards the right hallway, “Stay safe, Fundy. I’ll message you if I find something or if I come back here, worst case scenario we meet back at the living room,” Jack smiled nervously.

“You too, man. Take care of yourself.” Fundy urged, and the two went their separate ways, torches in hand as they called for Tommy, checking every open room.

Fundy would be lying if he said he wasn’t scared. This was uncharted territory.

“If I can’t find Tommy in the other rooms, I’ll come back here,” he muttered to no one in particular, trying to convince himself to stay calm, checking the first door on his left. It was full of empty armor stands, broken swords and broken pieces of armor laying scattered across the room. He snuck inside after a quick scan for traps and picked up one of the bigger broken sword shards and carefully wrapped some of the scrapped leather armor around the bottom half, acquiring a makeshift dagger. He closed the door and moved on, but he paused at the sound. The echoing sound of the door behind him felt so... final. Like the door closed only to never open for him again. He shook the feeling off and continued down the hall.

He was faced with a dead end, with iron double doors standing tall in front of him, a lever on the left side of the wall indicating how to open it. “What is it with these creepy ass rooms...” he muttered and tried to look through the peep holes of the iron doors, only to find them blocked up from the other side. He wanted to turn around and forget this existed, but he knew Tommy, and if Tommy saw these doors, his curiosity would have gotten the better of him and he would have had to check them out. So, Fundy swallowed his fear and flipped the lever up, the doors slamming open with an echoing crack, the ringing sound of the iron causing him to flinch, but all things considered- the room beyond was lit up quite well. He took a few steps through the doors, and was relieved to find the doors stayed open, no traps or locked doors behind him. He continued forward towards the staircase in front of him, comforted by the sudden surge of light in the creepy ass basement. If only he knew the killer’s fondness of trip wires.

His foot caught on the wire, which blended into the stone brick path, and before he knew it he was tumbling down the staircase, the iron doors slamming shut behind him. When he reached the bottom of the stairs, his body ached in pain and he swore his arm was broken from the numbness that was emanating from the bone. His vision was spotty and his head ached from the repeated hits on the way down, pressing his palm on his temple he prayed his vision would get better. He slowly got to his feet and stumbled forward, not expecting the pain in his ankle from what felt like a bad sprain. As he dizzily took a few steps forward, the telltale sound of pistons echoed in his ears, and behind him, the stone rose with alarming speed, trapping him in the obsidian lined room with no way out. Fundy’s clawed hands scratched at the new obsidian wall behind him, desperately trying to climb it, but even if his arm wasn’t broken, there was no way for him to climb four blocks without help. He heard the sound of iron doors opening again, this time behind him.

The iron cages that were spread along the walls of the room started opening one by one, the iron trap doors slamming open with a mechanical thud. Fundy watched in horror as every single cell opened and as animals began to exit their small confines. The animals were a mix of foxes and wolves, all of them looking gaunt, emaciated, and _angry_. Fundy’s eyes went wide, the wolves and foxes of Minecraft couldn’t remember human faces, they didn’t know that the fox-human hybrid in front of them wasn’t the cruel person who put them in the cages. All they knew was that they were hungry, and they were mad.

Their heads slowly turned to look at them and Fundy’s furred tail went straight in fear, “L-Listen, we can talk about this, I’m sure you’re all very good boys and girls, a-and you’re probably _really_ hungry…” He backed up slowly, the obsidian taunting him with it’s cold, hard texture, “b-but I’m not food! I-If you guys help me out of here, I promise to get you guys food. You don’t have to resort to pseudo-cannibalism. You don’t want that on your conscious!” The animals got even closer; lips raised in snarls as they stalked towards their prey. Fundy pulled out his makeshift dagger to keep the animals back a distance and resorted to pleading with the Mastermind, certain that they were watching, “Please! You don’t have to do this! I promise I won’t be mad at you, just please let me go!” He cried, “I don’t want to die like this!”

His mistake was taking his eyes off of the animals, a clear sign to the starving hunters that he wouldn’t notice their attack until too late.

Down the right hallway, Jack paused his checking of rooms. Was that a scream? That sure sounded like somebody screaming… but he didn’t hear any further screams. His mind had to be playing tricks on him, this basement was getting into his head; The sooner he checked every room the sooner he could leave the basement with Fundy and tell the others that Tommy wasn’t down there. He only had a few more rooms to go.

The Mastermind watched the morbid death with disgust, they had to admit that the death was rather cruel- but the irony of foxes killing the fox hybrid player was too good to pass up. Fundy did put up somewhat of a good fight, he managed to take down two of the feral animals before they took him down. At least the wolves ended Fundy’s misery quickly, going straight for the throat. It only took a few moments for the Mastermind to confirm Fundy’s death, after all- no one could survive that kind of death. They pulled up their chat window and typed a quick command. All of the mobs in the obsidian room suddenly dropped dead, small traces of smoke indicating their eradication. Fundy’s body laid dead on the floor, but thanks to the /kill command, the body was still recognizable. They flipped a few switches from their position from behind the wall and the obsidian wall keeping Fundy trap dropped back down into the floor and the iron doors at the top of the stairs swung back open. The others would find his body sooner or later, but the Mastermind had something else on their mind, something more important, and could care less about leading the group to the body. They were sure Jack would find it eventually when Fundy didn’t answer his messages. As they left the room, they pulled their black gloves and beanie off, depositing it into an ender chest, before stepping out of a hidden passage and back into the mansion, barely even noticed missing by the others.

* * *

The minute Tommy and Tubbo descended the ladder of the attic, Wilbur tackled them in a hug, “Thank the gods, you’re safe,” Wilbur mumbled into the hug and then pulled back, “Where the hell have you been?! We were worried sick!” He tried not to yell, but his emotions got the better of him. Tommy flinched slightly and refused to meet Wilbur’s eyes for a second, “I- I’ll tell you later, okay?” Wilbur bit back his response, he wanted Tommy’s answer now, but he had to trust his right-hand man. He sighed and pulled Tommy into another hug, “Alright… just promise me that if you ever need help, you’ll come to me instead of running away.” Tommy smiled slightly, “Always, Wil.”

Phil and Techno’s reactions were similar to Wil’s when the three entered the living room. Phil fussed over Tommy like a mother hen and Techno was… well Techno.

“So you aren’t dead, after all- really thought someone had figured out the secret of how to kill our gremlin,” Techno teased, but the others could see the genuine relief in his eyes, he just expressed his worry differently from Wilbur and Phil. “Oh ha-ha Technoblade,” Tommy sneered back, but it didn’t have his usual spunk to it.

“Do you wanna tell the group what happened to you? Or do you want to tell us so we can explain to them?” Phil questioned softly, letting Tommy sit in the corner of one of the couches. “Preferably the second one, if you don’t mind.” Tommy grinned nervously. “Not at all.” Phil assured him and the rest of the Sleepy Boys went quiet to let him speak. Tommy glanced over and met Tubbo’s eyes before taking a deep breath,

“Last night, I was in the library reading up on what the Mastermind kept in his library when Eret showed up. He surprised me, so we started joking back and forth and generally just messing about… We- We uh went to stand by the window to talk about our feelings over this whole situation when… when someone pushed us…” He struggled to get the words out and Phil put a comforting hand on his shoulder, silent encouragement, “I grabbed onto the edge of the window at the last minute and pulled myself back in… Eret f-fell and I- I just ran… Somebody was chasing me and so I ran to the attic to l-lose them… I didn’t even realize how long I’d been missing… I thought if I left the attic that the mastermind would kill me, I didn’t know they gave up until Tubbo called out to me…” He recited, stumbling over his words here and there, not used to lying to his friends. The others looked horrified at the story, realizing they were mere moments away from losing the fourth Sleepy Boy, “Oh my gods, Tommy,” Phil breathed, “Did you see who pushed you?” Tommy shook his head, fiddling with the hem of his shirt, “He was wearing a mask, probably in case one of us survived…” Tommy muttered, tucking his legs in towards his chest.

Around the same time, the Dream Team plus Bad walked into the living room, Skeppy not too far behind them. “Glad to see you’re okay, Tommy!” Bad smiled as the group joined the Sleepy Boys on the couches, Tommy gave him a weak smile back, losing his nerve.

“Are we waiting for the others to talk about the murders?” Dream asked their slowly growing group, glancing between everyone. “Wait, murders?” Tommy furrowed his brows and glanced between Wilbur and Tubbo, “I thought only one person was dead?” He asked and the room went back to an awkward silence, the only sound being the fire crackling in the fireplace.

“Oh… right, I’m guessing you weren’t paying attention to chat?” George chuckled awkwardly, “Tubbo found Punz’s body this morning, not long after Niki found Eret.” Tommy’s face went white, horror flooding his body, and he went silent. “Tommy, it wasn’t your fault, the Killer was planning Punz’s death for a long time, it was just… bad timing…” Techno offered up, knowing that Tommy was blaming himself. Tommy just shook his head slightly and turned away from the group, huddling in closer to the corner of the couch, he wasn’t ready to hear that, he had to work through his emotions in his own time. Dream gave a curious look to Techno, confused from Tommy’s reaction, “We’ll explain when everyone is here,” He offered weakly and Dream let them be, knowing he wouldn’t get anything out of them. So, while listening to George and Sap talking, he wrote idly into his notebook. Noting small things, like how Tommy reacted to the news of Punz’s death and the body language of the people in the room, he didn’t know what kind of info would be helpful to finding the mastermind, so he wrote down everything.

The rest of the group filed in slowly, but fifteen minutes after Phil’s message, everyone seemed to be accounted for. He wanted to wait to do a head count until he was sure everyone was back, but because everyone was in pairs, he was fairly certain no one would be missing, the buddy system took care of that. Plus, after two deaths, everyone should know to not be alone. He took a deep breath and fought the urge to have his mask completely cover his face, he still wasn’t used to showing his face this much- but the others seemed to appreciate the gesture. Even if it did make him extremely uncomfortable at times. He sighed and flipped back to his notes on Punz’s death, preparing to tell the group what he found when he noticed something out of the corner of his eye.

The fireplace was lit.

When did the fireplace get lit up?

“Phil...?” He asked, not taking his eyes off the fire, “Did you light the fireplace?” He asked slowly, unable to keep the slight worry from his voice. Phil furrowed his eyebrows, “No? Why would… I…” His voice trailed off as he looked at the fire, the flames switching from orange to blue every so often, “…that was not lit earlier- and no one here lit it, I would have noticed…” The groups’ conversations trailed off as they overheard the conversation between the two blondes, and slowly everyone went to look at the fireplace.

**“Good evening, everyone, it’s been a while since we last talked, hasn’t it?”**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 12/15 Alive. Will the rest of them notice the disappearance of their lovable fox friend?
> 
> Thanks so much for reading! It's hard to believe we're already eight chapters in! Hopefully Dream and Co. finds the identity of the Mastermind soon, or I'm afraid bodies will keep arriving on their doorstep until nobody remains.
> 
> (and you all worried that Skeppy was going to die- if only you knew...)


	9. The Boy Who Cried Wolf

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The portrait speaks again, taunting the players yet again and gives them a haunting challenge.

The voice sent chills down Dream’s back, he had never wanted to hear that voice ever again, yet here it was. The voice had a lilting tease to it, as if the mastermind knew they had nowhere near enough information to convict, let alone even identify them. The portrait was also back, but it had changed- how nobody noticed this, they had no clue, but here they were again.

**“I would say I missed speaking with you, but I haven’t- you all are far too boring for my taste. I do have to say- I’m quite shocked at the cold blood in this room. I didn’t expect you to actually kill each other, but I suppose poor Eret found that out the hard way. Quite a tumble he took out the window.”** The mastermind mused as gasps echoed across the room. Niki had her hands clasped over her mouth and looked like she was trying to hold back tears; Dream forgot that Eret and her had gotten close over the past few months on his SMP. Wilbur had his arm around her for comfort, but he was glancing back and forth between multiple people. Dream wasn’t sure if he could trust this voice, this _mastermind_ , but if it was speaking the truth- that meant that one of them had purposefully killed Eret. Not the mastermind, one of the players in this room.

**“I will say, it wasn’t a very creative death, was it? Just a quick shove and down he went. Poor man wasn’t even killed by _me_ , he was killed by someone he thought he could trust. Amusing, isn’t it? Don’t worry though, won’t let this game end too quickly, so I took the liberty of disguising his killer’s name in the chat. Bravo to whoever got away with that kill.”**

Wilbur stole a glance towards Tommy and Tubbo, how long could he cover for them? The mastermind just confirmed that Eret was killed by a friend, and he was staring right at them. The others would never believe him if he told them, Tommy was too broken up for them to believe he did it, and Tubbo wasn’t nearly strong enough to push Eret out a window, even if he did catch Eret by surprise. Wilbur mentally swore at himself for letting Tubbo go up to the attic alone, maybe he could have convinced them to tell the truth, or maybe he would have heard the whole story instead of the fragment he _did_ hear. Wilbur decided he would stay quiet for now, Punz was still dead so maybe he could get the group to focus on that murder…

**“Anyways, I didn’t come here to compliment the traitor in your midst, I came here to deliver yet another warning. As of right now, three of your friends are dead, and one of them is still missing. I wonder- will you get to them before I will?”**

Dream immediately began counting the groups numbers, the Mastermind couldn’t possibly have struck again- not so soon. His eyes darted around the room in panic, counting over and over again, but he couldn’t shake the truth. There were only 11 people in this room. The mastermind was right, they weren’t keeping a close enough eye-

“Did he just say there were three people dead?” George couldn’t help but blurt the thought on everyone’s minds. They only knew about Punz and Eret, but here the mastermind was admitting to a third kill.

**“Your art of deduction is a bit too overpowered at the moment. So, I figured I’d give you a harder mystery. After all, when a boy cries wolf does the village believe him? Or does the wolf get a better meal than before? After all, in the Room where it Happens, you don’t trust anyone but yourself. They might have taken that a bit too literally. Too easy frankly.”** The mastermind laughed at this statement, Dream continued to scan their quickly thinning crowd, he had to figure out who was missing- he could still save one life.

**“Time is like an hourglass, sand drips down and down and down until you’re practically smothered in those annoying sand grains. Your time- ladies, gents, and everyone in between- is running out. You have one hour to find your missing persons before I... speed things up. To put it lightly, it’s such a shame you won’t be there to witness the carnage I will bring. The next death will be a spectacle that you simply cannot ignore. Think of it as a punishment and a thank you! After all, one of you will certainly enjoy the prize I will lay out for you. Until then, keep trying! It makes this old place feel so much more alive again. Toodles~”**

The portrait didn’t burn this time, the skull simply shuddered to a stop like the first time and stayed there- staring at them with its lifeless eyes.

The missing person was from L’Manberg. Dream had searched through the four different groups and found each member of their groups present except for L’Manberg. Niki, Wilbur, Tommy, Tubbo, Fun-…

Fundy and Jack were missing.

He whirled around to face Techno and Phil, “Where did Fundy and Jack search?” He spoke quickly, itching to run and find them. “T-The basement.” Phil stumbled over his words, bringing his chat box up to send urgent messages to the two, “Why didn’t they come up when I first messaged them?!” Phil scrolled through the chat history, certain he messaged Jack _and_ Fundy. Dream didn’t respond, he just pulled George and Sapnap along with him on his way out the door and back into the bedroom hallway.

The basement entrance was hard to get to; The stairs that led down to it were rotting, with vines and cobwebs decorating the entire stairwell, making it nearly impossible to light a torch without the whole place going up in flames. Not only that, but the basement staircase was in the very back of the house, hidden slightly in the shadows with two wide iron doors guarding the entrance.

“They should have stayed far away from this place, does no one in this group watch horror movies?!” Dream cursed as he took the stairs down two by two, ignoring the loud creaking sound each plank gave off as it handled the weight of the three players. “Phil said he sent down a group of four so that they’d be safe down here, I don’t know why they got separated,” George answered quickly, a few steps behind Dream.

They reached the bottom of the stairwell fairly quickly, the urgency of their situation causing them to run down the four flights of stairs. As they came to the hallway where the search party had split up, they suddenly understood why the four people separated.

“This place is _massive_!” Sap exclaimed, pulling out a torch now that the vines had let up, “How the hell are we gonna find them in an hour?!” Dream motioned for Sapnap to hand him the torch and used it to light the nearest sconce, to show where they had gone to search. “We have to hope the others are following us down here.” He turned back to the other two, “Under no circumstances are we to split up. If the mastermind wants to pick us off one by one- then we’re gonna make his job a helluva lot harder.” The torch hissed in his hand as he spoke, glancing between his two best friends. They glanced at each other and then nodded back at Dream,

“We’re gonna find Fundy and Jack Manifold and then we’re gonna get the hell out of here.”

* * *

Jack felt like he was walking in circles, no matter where he went or what doors he opened, he couldn’t find his way back to the landing where he and Fundy had left Skeppy and Badboyhalo. He sent messages to Fundy and Phil, but neither of them seemed to be answering, sometimes they wouldn’t even go through- they would just glitch out in his chat box before completely disappearing.

“Tommy?? Fundy?! Can anyone hear me?!” He called out, his voice echoing around the large cavern. Yet again, he got no response, just an endless number of doors and hallways greeting him everywhere he went. He sighed and continued to walk, he’d try shouting again in another ten minutes, the basement couldn’t be too much bigger than this, he could still see the top of the cavern above him and figured that eventually he’d _have_ to run into the staircase landing. For now, all he could do was check all the doors and keep looking for Tommy, or really- any sign of life.

He turned a corner and was greeted with another long ass hallway with multiple doors greeting him, the sight causing him to sigh in defeat. Jack couldn’t just give up now though, he was far too invested to quit now. He glanced behind his back and was relieved to find the hallway he had been following dead ended in this corner- maybe he could finally make his way back to the stairs. He didn’t want to get his hopes up too much and settled for checking this new batch of rooms. He decided to start with the left side door, the room beyond being somewhat interesting for once. Most of the rooms he found were decaying or empty- but this one was new.

It was a brewing room, with shelves containing all sorts of enchanted books and potion manuals. The left and right walls had multiple brewing stands sitting on a counter, most bubbling quietly as they created their concoctions. Potions were never Jack’s strong suit, but he did pick up some knowledge when joining L’Manberg, considering that’s how the war started in the first place- for the right to produce potions. The item frames decorating the back well held the ingredients needed for the many potions, a few of the frames missing their items. The chests below them full of rows and rows of pre-prepared potions, far too many for his comfort.

As much as he thought it was a bad idea, he decided to grab a few of the finished potions, as a way for him to prove to the others that this room actually existed. That was if he could even make his way back to the room- since he had no idea where he was or how to find this identical door. At least the potions could provide something to show he wasn’t hallucinating, which upon leaving the brewing room- he wasn’t positive if he _wasn’t_ hallucinating.

When he left the room- he was not in the same hallway that he was when he entered the brewing room. When he entered, it was the first door on the left after turning a corner from another hallway. The hallway he entered upon leaving the brewing room looked nothing like this. Suddenly he was at the end of a hallway, the wooden walls stretching out so far that his torch wouldn’t come anywhere close to illuminating its ending. The door slammed shut behind him and the sound made him jump, the sound feeling… final… Upon turning around- he realized why: the brewing room door had disappeared, leaving only a wooden plank wall, looking identical to the rest of the hallways. He stumbled back from the wall in shock and fumbled for the potions in his bag, for the proof that he was there, and sure enough- the softly bubbling potions were still in his bag.

“Okay… that… that’s weird.” He mumbled to himself, heart racing a mile a minute. He started to continue down the hallway, checking behind him every minute or so, convinced that he could feel someone’s eyes on him.

He also could have sworn that this place felt familiar, like he’d heard about it or seen it in a photo or _something_. It kept making him feel like he was experiencing déjà vu, but he just couldn’t remember why, and it was killing him inside. His torch fizzled in his hand and he cursed quietly as he realized it was about to extinguish itself, the coal being all used up. He pulled his fourth and final torch out of his bag and used the embers of his old one to ignite it, the area once again brightening so he could see.

In the brief moment of darkness, the basement changed on him again, now putting him in a new cave- a mineshaft from the looks of it. There was a rail below his feet and wooden support beams greeting him every 10 blocks, soul lanterns casting a dull blue tone endlessly down the tunnel. Dread filled his heart at his new location, something he had never seen in his exploration of the basement, and despite his sudden transport- he could still feel eyes watching him from somewhere.

“Oh, I am so dead…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 12/15 alive? 
> 
> Thank you so much for all the support! I really do appreciate it!  
> (Also please go check out Unclean_Headspace's fanart! It's absolutely amazing!)


	10. Like Clockwork

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The search for Jack continues, but his time is running short. The mastermind attempts to strike again and the mansion continues to keep the players in the basement maze.

The Dream Team were the first ones out the door, before anyone had really processed the full extent of the Mastermind’s words. Phil tried to organize search parties again, but at this point, everyone lost trust in the others and stuck to their own smaller groups. Bad and Skeppy went after the Dream Team, quickly explaining that, since they had already been down in the basement, they could navigate it faster than the others, and left before the others could protest. That just left Wilbur, Niki, Techno, Phil, and the boys left in the library, still reeling from the news but wanting to help.

“Okay, boys-“ Phil turned to Tubbo and Tommy, still sitting on the couch in somewhat stunned silence, “You two should go to your room. You need to block yourselves in; You’ll be safer there.” He decided quickly, Tubbo already rising- albeit somewhat reluctantly- from the couch.

“Wha- Phil, are you sure they wouldn’t be safer with us?” Wilbur tried to protest, glancing back and forth from the boys and Phil, “The mastermind could get them while we’re gone and-“

“Wilbur, they aren’t defenseless. They might have gotten scared before, but they know what they’re up against now.” Techno interjected, looking somewhat confused at Wilbur’s over protectiveness. “I know that, it’s just-“ Wilbur was fighting a losing battle, the others had made up their mind to leave the two potential killers of the house alone. Niki placed a hand on his shoulder, and he quieted immediately, “Wil, we have to get going, we don’t have much time.” She reminded him. Wilbur glanced between the three adults and sighed, there was nothing more he could say to convince them, “Fine, you’re right- you’re right…” he reluctantly agreed and looked away.

The six of them walked down to Tommy and Tubbo’s room together, Phil giving a small lecture on how to stay safe while in the room. Wilbur couldn’t help but feel a small pit of dread form in his stomach, so he waited outside the room while the others did a quick fortification of the room.

“Okay, now remember, do not open this door to anyone but us- I don’t care what they say, if it isn’t us- don’t open the door.” Phil finished, looking both boys in their eyes individually, making sure the point got across. Tommy nodded silently and Tubbo hummed in agreement, “Got it, Phil. We’ll hold down the fort- not to worry!” he tried to smile but the movement felt forced, “You guys stay safe too, okay?”

“Of course. We’ll see you in a few hours,” Phil assured them quickly and closed the door, waiting for the clicks of the two locks before joining the others down the hall, a determined look on his face.

The journey to the basement was quiet, none of them wanting to address the elephant in the room- that Jack or Fundy was dead and the other was about to die. Phil couldn’t help but feel guilty, he was the one who sent them to the basement- and he was the one who was supposed to keep them up to date with info to keep them safe. When he had gone back through his messages, he realized that he didn’t in fact send messages to the two of them, he must have assumed they were with Skeppy and Bad, but Skeppy had already admitted the group had split in two. Jack and Fundy had no clue that Tommy had been found, and with how large the basement was- they could be anywhere.

Techno brushed up against him, shaking him out of his thoughts, the pink haired man looking at him with concern. Techno had always been the one to pick up on Phil and Wilbur’s emotions without having to speak, he was the most intuitive out of the three of them. Phil shook his head slightly in response, which he knew would only make Techno more worried, but he didn’t want to say it in the open space of the stairwell. “Later,” He mouthed and Techno reluctantly nodded in response.

They quickly caught up with Wilbur and Niki, who had already lit torches for them to keep the area bright. The first thing Phil noticed, was the three hallways that branched off from the staircase landing, the hallways on the right and left had their sconces ignited- which left the middle hallway for them.

“I thought there were only two hallways from the landing?” Niki asked, watching the dark hallway in front of them with suspicion. “I thought so too, but it was dark down here- maybe they didn’t notice?” Wilbur wondered, passing a torch to Techno as Phil lit the first sconce in the middle hallway. “Maybe… but we should still be careful…”

The four trekked down the middle hallway, chatting quietly as they searched for clues, not noticing the wall closing behind them, the third hallway disappearing back into the maze that made up the basement…

* * *

With every step Jack took, his dread grew with it. He knew it would only be a matter of time before the mastermind struck, after all- the lost sheep is always found by the wolf and rarely the shepherd. He had switched out his torch for one of the many lanterns that decorated the mineshaft, the light was a bit dimmer than before, but lanterns burned way longer than torches did. Every now and then, there would be the telltale cave sounds from vanilla Minecraft that would shake him to his core, but death hadn’t followed these sounds… yet.

His coordinate screen had been glitched out when he tried to find the directions back to the house; Whoever this mastermind is- they must be incredibly good at coding, because from the number of glitches he was experiencing, he knew it wasn’t coincidental. He still tried to contact Phil or Wilbur through the chat- but it never went through properly, his words were just glitched out and then deleted from the chat. As he walked, he paid close attention to the rails beneath his feet and where they branched off and when, he was hoping this would lead him to an abandoned chest cart so that he’d get somewhat of a fighting chance against the mastermind.

Generally, he tried to stick to the main mineshaft, he figured the easiest way to find his way back to the basement, as the rock below him was gently sloping upwards.

He had found two chests, thus far, but their contents were… interesting, to say the least. The only things he found were sand, gold blocks, wither skulls, and redstone torches. None of which could be helpful, other than the torches used as a blunt force weapon, and he already had one torch left from before.

As he continued to walk, he was unaware of a set of eight eyes following him, carefully keeping track of his location as the time ran down on the others finding him. A mechanical spider crawled on the stone above Jack, hissing slightly with the redstone that powered it. The Mastermind watched through the machine’s eyes with curiosity, they didn’t really want to kill Jack yet: the game was more fun if it was drawn out. Yet letting Jack leave these mineshafts alive would just be a missed opportunity. The mansion shifted behind him, tunnels opening and closing behind him quietly without him noticing. It was almost amusing seeing him walk past the exit multiple times- not that the mastermind had any control over the mansion’s movements- but it was still hilarious to watch. Jack was making slow progress, so the Mastermind wasn’t too worried about him getting too far.

After all- he only had twenty more minutes of freedom before the mastermind had to make their move.

* * *

Niki wouldn’t say she was scared of the mansion, but she did have to admit that she was somewhat worried about the basement. She knew that she was safe with Wilbur, Phil, and Techno, but she was worried about the Mastermind separating them. She was in the lead of their group, holding the torch high as they progressed through the hallway, if they could even call it a hallway anymore. About fifty blocks after they entered, the hallway had started to decay and turn into more of a tunnel, with vines and cobwebs hanging from the ceiling and the occasional wooden pillar holding a new sconce for them to light.

“I can’t contact the others, my chat is glitching out,” Phil broke the uneasy silence as Techno lit the next sconce. “What do you mean?” Wilbur frowned and leaned over Phil’s shoulder to look at the chat window, “I’ve never seen that happen before…” he frowned at the chat. The letters shifting and changing in color before disappearing a few moments later with a message saying that the message was “deleted by the admin”.

“So whoever the mastermind is has admin powers, makes sense.” Techno shrugged, watching the area behind them while Wilbur and Phil mused over the chat. Suddenly he saw a flicker of movement in the shadows and he frowned, wordlessly tapping Phil’s arm. Phil opened his mouth to speak, but saw the flicker of movement himself and instead grabbed the torch so that Techno had open hands to wield his sword.

Two small white lights shone from the darkness of the tunnel behind them, reminding Techno of the glare on glasses, slowly getting closer as they heard the sound of footsteps. There was a sudden burst of light on the ground and an axe was dragging across the floor, sending sparks as it went. The group started backing up, Techno still had his sword out, but the axe could do more damage if it came to pvp combat, so his best bet was to retreat with the group. As the axe wielder got closer to the ignited sconce, more of their form became visible, but before they could see more than the person’s shoes- the sconce was snuffed with a simple snap from the axe wielder.

“Niki, run!” Techno shouted to the front of the group and backed up quicker, not wanting to turn his back on the person until the last possible moment. He had only turned his head slightly to shout this, but there was enough of a distraction for their pursuer to make a move. The axe flashed out from their hand and went sailing across the tunnel at unnerving speeds, aiming straight for Techno. Phil’s torch light reflected off the axe head for a second, and Techno dodged on impulse, an action that saved his life. The axe embedded into the wall behind him, only just nicking his ear from how close the blade was to his head. He went to grab it- but the axe disappeared from his grasp, returning to their pursuer’s side as they continued their suspenseful approach. Niki and Wilbur had run farther up ahead, but they paused at the sound of the axe slamming into the rock. Phil had stayed mostly by Techno’s side, but he had to think fast- they had to get space between them and the mastermind- but they risked another axe throw if Techno turned his back. He glanced around desperately when he saw their escape: one of the wooden support beams was carefully holding gravel out of the tunnel, but it was old and rotting and one good swing would probably knock it over.

“Techno! The beam!” He spoke quickly and moved behind the beam to avoid getting trapped with the pursuer. Techno acted quickly, not needing to be told twice, and turned on heel to run towards the beam. The axe flashed out from the mastermind’s hand again, but Techno was quicker, and slammed his sword into the rotten wood. The beam shattered and a mountain of gravel fell a block behind Techno, who stumbled at the force and fell forward. Mere milliseconds later, they heard the axe sink into the gravel wall with a horrible thud. Wilbur helped Techno stand and the four began running down the tunnel, not wanting to take any chances- they had to put as much distance as they could between them and the mastermind.

After about 200 blocks and taking multiple offshoots from the original tunnel- they found themselves gasping for breath in one of the normal hallways, safe for now. “Okay!” Wilbur said between breaths, “Apparently the mastermind will still come after us if we’re in groups- good to know!” he said sarcastically, sinking to the ground in exhaustion. “Was that actually the mastermind?” Niki asked, spying the cut on Techno’s ear, “Because if it is, that means he’s just as good at PvP as Techno.” She pointed out. Techno reached up to his ear and seemed shocked at the blood, “I… didn’t even realize he got me…” Techno practically whispered, realizing that he was mere moments from death back in the tunnel.

“Let’s try to not have any more close calls like that. We need to be more vigilant, since obviously there isn’t safety in numbers like we had assumed.” Phil brushed the gravel dust off his hat and picked his torch back up off the ground, “Now, we have rooms to search.” He gestured out to the four doors on the left and right walls.

“I’ll go first,” Techno volunteered, shaking his shock off from earlier, “Better to be safe than sorry,” He said and pulled his sword back out. Niki walked a few steps behind him, making sure he could see, while Phil and Wilbur protected them from behind. The first room didn’t have much, just a few empty chests with broken gold weapons and armor, nothing of use to them. The next room was the interesting one. There was netherrack on the floor immediately upon walking in, and a broken nether portal, surrounded by a lava moat, decorated the back wall. There seemed to be a small nether wart grove nestled in the left corner, most of them having been recently harvested, and on the right wall was a series of chests holding netherrack and quartz, with the occasional stack of gold nuggets breaking them up. Other than that, there was no sign of life, so Niki and Techno left to fill in the others.

As the door closed behind them, the portal suddenly activated, pistons shoving obsidian into the broken parts of the portal, and out of the portal crawled another red stone spider, this one being decorated to look like a cave spider. It shook off the lava as it crawled through the moat and made its way to the door, glowing from the heat of the lava, and its eyes blinked on. It had a lot of work to do, the most important task it was assigned was to split up large groups of players, and it just so happened to find a group right outside the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 12/15 Alive
> 
> Thanks so much for reading! Sorry for the late posting, college assigned more work than normal and I had to put a priority on that, but I'll try to get these out on schedule!


	11. Are You Running Out of Time?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The basement continues to trap and confuse the groups stuck in its depths. Dream finds himself in hot water and Jack finds out the truth too late.

Dream sighed as they left yet another empty room, nowhere closer to finding Fundy and Jack than they were forty minutes ago. He ran a hand through his hair and groaned in frustration, slamming his hand into the wall hard enough for a crack to form. George and Sapnap were equally as frustrated, Sap was pacing back and forth and couldn’t stop glancing at the hallway behind them. They already had the basement’s layout switch up on them twice now, and every time it happened, they would only get more and more nervous. At least this part of the basement was well lit, with redstone lamps being placed every six blocks, so at least they knew mobs wouldn’t be getting the drop on them.

Most of the rooms in the basement were empty, usually containing no more than decaying wood and cobwebs, but every now and then there would be an oddly specific room that seemed to be in pristine condition. For one- they found a room completely full of wooden weapons and leather armor, with the layout and decorations of the room trying to imitate typical low-level houses. Strangely enough, the armor stands that showed off the shiny leather armor was posed in a way to make them look like two players fighting- except one of the armor stands had ran the other through with a sword. Other than that, the room was meaningless, but it put them on edge. A few rooms after that, they found a room made entirely of redstone. The floors and walls were made up of redstone blocks and there were three, dimly lit redstone torches in the middle- seeming to burn forever without running out of fuel. It was odd, to say the least, but it didn’t set off any red flags like the leather room. After that- their luck started running out with the interesting rooms becoming rarer and rarer.

They were starting to get exhausted after checking empty room after empty room, they weren’t any closer to finding any source of life or exit, and the hallway had become monotonous. Monotonous to the point that Dream had let his guard down, his exhaustion getting the best of him- since his rest hadn’t exactly been restful. He had only gotten a few hours of sleep last night as he had taken first watch over Sap and George while they slept, and when it was his turn to sleep- he only had nightmares. Some recurring nightmares from his childhood of being chased by a wither skeleton while the wither sickness slowly killed him, and the skeleton only got closer; The nightmare always ended with the skeleton impaling him with its stone sword and he would jerk awake swearing he could still feel the pain.

So when the hallway closed behind him, he didn’t even realize that they had just fallen into the mastermind’s hands. Down the other side of the hallway, the redstone lamps started to shut off, one by one, with a suspenseful click.

“Dream?” George asked quietly, the anxiety evident in his voice as he waited for Dream’s call on the situation. Before Dream could speak, a set of white lights appeared in the rapidly approaching darkness, the spark of a diamond sword scraping along the floor beside them as they stalked forward. Dream reached into his inventory to grab his axe, but found it missing- in fact most of his inventory was suspiciously missing. Besides his book and quill- the only thing left in his inventory was… a _stone sword_.

“What the actual _fuck_.” He muttered angrily as the sword materialized in his hand. He had only told three people about that nightmare and two of them were standing right next to him. The diamond sword wielder was rapidly approaching, and they had nowhere to go but towards their pursuer. Dream sighed angrily at the situation, they were between a rock and a hard place- literally.

“When I say run, _run._ ” Dream muttered to the two other members of the Dream Team, gripping the stone sword tightly in his hand as he tried to remember sword combat tactics. “Dream, we’re not gonna leave you-“ Sapnap tried to protest, but Dream cut him off. “Sapnap. When I tell you to run- you _run_.” Dream left no room for protest, and George and Sapnap glanced at each other with a concerned look- but they knew there were no other options for survival. The mastermind was three lights away, when they doused the next lamp- Dream would make his move.

“RUN!” The lamp switched off and Dream jumped to action, thrusting his sword at the mastermind, who blocked with relative ease, expecting the attack. With one hand, they parried his attack, and with the other they pulled out a splash potion, slamming it into the ground as George and Sapnap sprinted past. The potion shattered at Dream’s feet, but he managed to jump back a few paces to lessen the potion’s effect. His vision went dark and spotty: a blindness potion. He could work with this, it’d be impossible to identify his attacker, but he could still see enough to block incoming attacks.

The stone sword felt awkward in his hands, its weight was uneven and unbalanced, which only hindered his movements. The mastermind took advantage of this and used Dream’s lowered reaction time to turn on the offensive, using the diamond sword’s lighter weight to get a quick slash in on Dream’s arm. Dream instinctively blocked the brunt of the blow but felt the blade nick into his left shoulder. The mastermind left no time to process and immediately sliced down towards Dream’s chest, aiming for a debilitating injury to hinder the speedrunner’s reaction time even more. Dream was quicker than the mastermind thought, however, and pulled the stone sword back in front of his chest- the swords clashing with a horrible scraping sound.

Dream’s sword _cracked_ at the impact, and he knew he wouldn’t be able to block another hit like that without losing his sword completely. He saw a spark of light past what he assumed was the mastermind’s shoulder and tried his best to see it through the effects of the blindness potion. The light blinked twice, paused, and then blinked three more times. Sapnap and George were safe, he felt like he could breathe again at the confirmation.

The diamond sword flashed back into his area of vision and he barely dodged it, feeling the rush of air as it narrowly missed the slash at his stomach. He had to be careful with his next attack, he’d have to use it to thrust- the slashes he used before would only risk the sword’s durability even more. He figured it only had about three more small blocks before it shattered, but he just needed one good attack to escape down the hall towards George and Sapnap. He stayed on the defensive, letting the diamond sword scrape against his stone sword as he kept his movements fluid.

Diamond swords had the advantage of a wider range of attack, but their speed meant the attacks weren’t as powerful. Dream was used to fighting against axes, and had gotten good at dodging powerful hits, so the sword wasn’t that big of a problem. Sure, the sword nicked him every now and then, but he much preferred a nicked cheek to a severed trachea.

The mastermind was getting desperate- they had banked on the blindness potion hindering Dream more than it did, so in their frustration: they got sloppy. Dream found his opportunity. With a sloppy thrust of the sword, the mastermind left their right side open to attack, and Dream was more than ready for it. He surged forward and the sword cut deeply into his attacker’s ribcage. The downside to the powerful hit, however, was that the stone sword crumbled in his hands. The mastermind cursed in pain and Dream started running towards George and Sapnap’s last known location, he still couldn’t see them due to the blindness- but running in a straight line was easy. Unfortunately, it also made it very easy for a well-placed arrow to find its mark, and as Dream got halfway down the hallway- he realized his mistake.

“ ** _DREAM_**!!”

The sound of a taught crossbow string was an identifiable sound, and as he tried to quickly change his run into a zig zag- he felt a sharp, hot pain in his right shoulder. He stumbled at the impact, the pain making him see stars, and he knew he wouldn’t make it to George and Sapnap at this rate. They’d be safer without him weighing them down, so when an offshoot hallway came into his line of sight- he took it.

He stumbled down the hallway and forced his way into a room, slouching back against the side wall as his breathing became more and more haggard. He glanced back at the bolt and noticed it was glowing slightly- it was enchanted, of course it was. This wasn’t going to be pretty, but he needed to continue his search for Jack and Fundy- he could rest when he was dead.

Dream used the last shard of the stone sword to cut the bottom of his hoodie off and ripped the bolt out of his shoulder, biting back a cry of pain. He pulled the rest of his hoodie off and quickly wrapped the scrap of green fabric tightly around the wound, luckily staunching the blood loss before it became too bad. He sighed and leaned back against the wall, the blindness potion beginning to wear off. He took a moment to catch his breath and get used to the concerning numbness in his right arm, before he slowly rose to his feet. He tried his best to tie his hoodie around his waist, the lack of feeling in his arm made the task almost impossible, even if he could feel it, he wasn’t certain if it could even function.

He couldn’t help but get worried at the sight of his arm moving without him feeling the movement. The crossbow bolt had been well placed, he wouldn’t be able to hold a sword if the mastermind came back; he had to admit they were strategic. He slowly stumbled out of the room, using his good arm to brace himself on the wall- he either had to find Fundy and Jack or he had to find the exit to the basement. Either way, he had to keep moving and pray that the killer had given up, letting Dream slowly bleeding out alone.

Dream just prayed that the mastermind followed him instead of George and Sapnap. He didn’t know if he could do this without them…

* * *

Jack had made it out of the mineshaft. He was covered in dirt and scratches from scuffles with various mobs- but he made it. He stumbled out into the hallways of the basement again, and his feet left tracks across the wooden flooring, but he was too exhausted to care. He’d spent around fifty minutes in those gods forsaken tunnels, and not only was he hungry and low on hearts- but he was just… tired.

Tired of facing off against seemingly unkillable mobs, and tired of never knowing where he was going, or if he would ever make it out alive. Taking his first breath outside of those stuffy tunnels was a feeling he wouldn’t soon forget, the relief that flooded his body gave him the energy he needed to continue forwards. He _would_ meet back with Fundy and he _would_ make it back out alive, he was certain of that. The mastermind had ample time to kill him in the tunnels and didn’t. Which either made the mastermind a coward, or an _idiot._

As he stumbled down the hallway towards where he assumed the basement landing was, a message flashed across his screen.

“ **Time’s up.** ”

He frowned at the message and his defenses raised once more. He reached into his inventory for his attack torch but remembered that it broke when he used it to kill a skeleton. The only things he had left were the three potions he had taken from the Brewery. He grimaced, but potion glass was strong enough to contain even the most volatile of potions, so it could probably withstand a few hits before shattering. He held it and used the lit sconces around him to look for an incoming enemy, or anything for that matter. Redstone was just as deadly as a sword with this mastermind.

**“I’m sorry Jack, but it looks like your friends failed. I’ll give them an extra five minutes to find you, maybe luck is still on your side.”**

The potion fell from Jack’s hand and rattled across the floor as Jack was suddenly teleported to a nearby room. He was standing in some sort of glass container and a redstone clock lit up on the wall across from him above the door. Its numbers were seemingly counting down the five minutes the mastermind had given the group. Sand slowly started to pour into the glass area he was in, and he realized with a start that he was in a giant hourglass that would slowly suffocate him to death. He slammed his fists on the glass in anger and dismay, shouting at the mastermind- or for anyone to hear him- but the glass was soundproof.

The mastermind hadn’t bothered to hide their name in the whisper message that told him about the five minutes, and he couldn’t believe the words on the screen that revealed the mastermind’s true identity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 12/15 Alive? Not for long...
> 
> Thanks for reading! I finally got back into the swing of writing and I feel like this chapter makes up for the past few subpar chapters(but that could be my insecurities talking), anywho- I'm really proud of this chapter- so I'm really hoping you guys like it too!
> 
> (and don't forget to take care of yourselves! The fic will be here anytime so don't forget to sleep!)  
> ((I'm looking at you, Overanalysing Gang))


	12. "He takes, and he takes, and he takes,"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bad and Skeppy traverse through the basement while Dream struggles to survive his injuries as Jack's time starts to run out...

Bad and Skeppy’s footsteps echoed loudly through the stone hallway and they tried to catch up with the Dream Team, checking rooms every now and then for any clues. “There’s no way they got that far without us- we were barely a minute behind them!” Bad fretted, quickly darting from one room to the next. “Bad, I’m sure they’re gonna be fine-“ Skeppy tried to comfort his best friends, doing his best to keep up with Bad while also double checking the rooms, since Bad clearly wasn’t looking very hard. “But there’s only three of them! Do you know how easy it is to split a group of three?! Dream did it to us all the time in his manhunt videos!” Bad cut him off, pausing in his search only to send another quick message to Dream.

_You whispered to Dream: Where are you???_

_You whispered to GeorgeNotFound: Are you guys okay??_

His messages seemed to go through properly, but he wasn’t receiving any answers back, that was the part that worried him. Normally he wouldn’t really care about getting a message back, but they had already been in the basement for forty minutes and he hadn’t heard _anything_ back from the group.

“I mean seriously, Skeppy! They could be attacked at any moment!” Bad vented and stopped checking rooms, letting Skeppy do the searching while he paced in the hallway. Skeppy did more of a thorough search, most of the rooms- like before- were empty, there were only a few that caught his eye. One of them looked like a garden, with flowers painted on the walls and soft glowstone light making the garden have a nice ambience, but the armor stands in the middle distracted from it. One of the armor stands had an arrow going through the helmet and the chest, while the other had two flaming arrows in the chest. Despite the scorch marks on the leather armor, the flames seemed to be burning forever- which shouldn’t be possible; but Skeppy just put the thought to the back of his head- there were bigger priorities than an infinite flame arrow. So he exited back out the room, before stopping dead in his tracks. Bad was still there, pacing and muttering, but something was wrong.

“Bad…”

“I mean what if one of them is injured right now?” Bad ignored Skeppy’s voice, his mind was too busy spiraling down through worried thoughts.

“Bad.”

“One of them could be dead! Or dying! Maybe that’s why they aren’t answering!”

“Bad!”

“Oh goodness, what if all of them are split up and injured-“

“BAD!”

Skeppy’s voice broke Bad out of his thoughts and he whirled around to face the blue clad man, a retort already prepared on his tongue- but it quickly died when he noticed what Skeppy was so insistent about. The hallway behind them was no longer a hallway- it was a dead end. “Oh… That’s… not good…” He mumbled sheepishly.

“Yeah, no duh, Bad! No wonder we haven’t been able to catch up with them!” Skeppy said, motioning towards the blank wall staring them in the face, “This stupid mansion can just change up on us!” He groaned, putting his face in his hands.

“How is this possible? This never happened to us upstairs!” Bad panicked, reaching out to touch the walls in disbelief, as if he thought it was just an illusion. “I don’t know! This all just way too freaking weird!” Skeppy vented right back, starting to pace back and forth as Bad investigated the new dead end, “We _need_ to get out of here. Like, right now.”

Bad frowned at this, “But what about the others? We haven’t found Dream and the others and Fundy and Jack are still missing!” he protested, turning away from the wall to continue their search. “Screw the others, Bad! We’re in a literal _living maze_ , we aren’t gonna be able to find them! We should get out while we still can.” He grabbed Bad by the sleeve, trying to stop him from walking away from their predicament. “ _What?!_ Skeppy that’s ridiculous! They need our help! They would help us if we needed them!” Bad reeled back and pulled his arm out of Skeppy’s hand. “Yeah, I get that, but what if we’re the only ones still down here?! What if this was all some elaborate trap set up by-“

“Don’t you dare say what I think you’re gonna say.” Bad stared at his best friend with absolute horror. “Bad…” Skeppy’s voice was softer, the anger and panic immediately leaving his voice, “You have to consider the fact that he could be the one behind all this…”

“No! No, I refuse to even think about that. Dream is _not_ a killer, Skeppy-”

“Then why isn’t he answering your messages?”

Silence fell between the two friends as Bad tried to keep the tears out of his eyes and Skeppy tried to convince Bad to leave with him. Bad just started slowly shaking his head, squeezing his eyes shut, “I can’t talk to you right now. You’re being unreasonable.” He finally muttered; his chest tight with emotion.

Skeppy glanced towards his feet, he had gone too far- Bad wasn’t ready to hear the truth yet- he should have known that.

“Bad, I-“ He glanced up to try and repair the situation but was cut off as he realized his best friend was no longer standing in front of him. He was talking to a brick wall. The basement had put a literal wall between them. “BAD!!” He slammed his fists against the wall, but it was no use- Bad was long gone, sent to a different part of the mansion- completely alone.

The silence from Skeppy threw Bad off, it was rare for them to be this quiet- even after they had a fight. He felt regret for his last statement and turned back towards Skeppy, opening his eyes back up to reality. Before he could say anything, however, all he saw was a brick wall- no Skeppy, just a wall.

“SKEPPY!” He ran to the wall, desperately trying to find a way to get through it- it had to be a joke, he couldn’t lose Skeppy- not after that kind of fight. His efforts were useless, though, the mansion had made a choice and that was it. They were alone.

Bad took a shaky breath and continued on, equipping his axe in one hand and a torch in his other. This new hallway was dark, there wasn’t any glow stone or redstone lamps, the only thing that gave off light was his torch and he couldn’t see a thing in the distance. What he could see of his surroundings seemed familiar, reminding him of the hallway he and Skeppy first checked when they were looking for Tommy. Other than that, he was completely lost- except he heard a sound from way down the hallway, so faint that he almost didn’t hear it. It was like glass falling onto stone- an odd twinkling sound- which he heard right as a message _finally_ came through his chat.

“ **Times up.** ”

\--------

Dream wasn’t making much progress. He was slow, and with every step he took- he only felt weaker and weaker. He had managed to slow his blood loss with the makeshift bandage, but it wasn’t enough to stop it completely- the wound was in an awkward area and he couldn’t wrap it in a way that was completely effective; Plus the fact that he was continuing to search with such a wound only aggravated it to keep bleeding. His breathing was ragged- he knew he wouldn’t die from the wound, but if he didn’t find help or a potion soon, he knew he would probably pass out.

He also couldn’t see a thing, as he had handed Sapnap his torch when the mastermind attacked, and since his inventory had been wiped clean of all his stuff- he had no choice but to keep to the walls and pray that no one got the drop on him. It wasn’t a good plan- but he didn’t have any other choice.

He had no weapons, no supplies, no armor, just his notebook with his clues. That was the odd part. Clearly the mastermind had admin powers, they had realized that a little while earlier, and it explained how stuff had been removed from his inventory without him noticing. So why did the mastermind let him keep his notebook? Weren’t they worried that he would use it to figure out their identity? Unless… Unless the mastermind _wanted_ to be caught… Dream frowned at this thought, it was weird, and the mastermind probably left the book because they didn’t know what it was but… maybe they did want to be caught. Dream made a mental note of this and kept moving, he wasn’t in any position to be able to write at the moment.

“ **Times up.** ”

The message caught him off guard- he had forgotten that nearly sixty minutes had passed since they were down there- but that wasn’t the only thing that caught him off guard. He heard the sound of glass being dropped to the floor and rolling around, and its source wasn’t that far away from him. He quickened his pace as much as he could and tried not to fall over, his vision spotty from the sudden burst of movement.

Surely enough, as he reached the end of the hallway, a potion bottle rolled into his view as his hallway dead ended in a corner. He kneeled down to the best of his ability and used his good arm to grab the potion. Its contents were a pale pink liquid that bubbled softly and seemed to shimmer even in the absence of light. He popped the cork slightly and sniffed the contents, it had a sweet smell that reminded him of apples, but it had the acrid undertone of netherwart disguised beneath it. He was fairly certain that it was either a Potion of Healing or a Potion of Regeneration- but he wasn’t positive and with him already being slightly out of it due to blood loss- he didn’t want to take a risk. He pushed the cork back into the bottle and carefully tucked it away in his inventory, struggling to regain his footing as he stood back up, gripping the wall tightly.

**Four Minutes.**

When he finally regained his balance, and was certain he wouldn’t fall over, he turned the corner and tried his best to see what was there. In the far-off distance he saw what looked to be torch light, with someone carrying it, but he couldn’t quite make out their form with the blurriness in his eyes. He couldn’t help but have flashbacks to the swordsman who attacked him earlier, so he tried to move a little quieter. Halfway between the other figure and Dream, there was a door.

The door was simple enough, looking like every other entrance he had seen when searching rooms, but unlike the others- this one had light pouring out of it, spilling into the hallway. Dream knew it was probably a trap- but his options were to chance his luck on the figure in the distance or to check out the creepy glowing room. He decided the creepy room was more appealing.

**Three Minutes.**

Bad was still lost. The hallway felt longer than it did when Skeppy and him investigated this area, but now that he knew the basement was some sort of sentient thing- he wasn’t too confused. He headed towards the source of the twinkling sound, but after about a minute- the glass stopped rolling across the floor- returning him to an uneasy silence. All he could hear was the crackling of his torch and his own footsteps- though even his footsteps sounded weird to him. He’d head to the source of the sound, figuring it would be his best bet to finding someone else in this maze, but he thought he saw light further down the hall, and gripped his axe a little tighter.

**Two Minutes.**

The figure was getting closer. By now, Dream could tell they wore dark clothing and that they were wielding an axe, maybe the mastermind was trying to come back and finish the job. Dream was in no state to defend himself from attacks- certainly not one from a diamond or netherrite axe- if the mastermind found him: he would die.

He tried to get to the glowing room faster, but his feet were starting to drag from the exhaustion and lack of blood. If he made it to this glowing room- he wouldn’t have much time to hide before this figure would follow him in. He would either die down here- or he’d barely escape by the skin of his teeth.

**One Minute.**

Jack could barely breathe. The sand was up to his neck and he was finding it hard to move with the sand scraping at his skin and preventing him from staying above its surface. The clock had reached double digits, and any hope Jack had of escaping before had been squashed. The sand only kept falling and the air remaining inside the glass was unbearably hot and hard to breathe in.

He had stopped pounding his fists at the glass that trapped him. It took too much energy and air, plus with the sand encasing him from all sides- the hits didn’t even have full force by the time it reached the glass. The clock was at **thirty seconds** and he accepted his fate, but still watched the door for any sign.

The door swung open and a figure practically fell through the opening. They were bruised and bloody, and really, they were in no such state to help him. Their green eyes met his and panic rushed through Dream’s body as he realized why the mastermind had said “Time’s up”. He stumbled to his feet and started hitting the glass, his knuckles quickly getting raw from the effort. Jack tried to get his attention- to use his final moments for good so that the others could stop the mastermind from killing more- but Dream was too focused on breaking the glass and within moments Jack became invisible as the sand fully encased him.

Dream kept hitting the glass, crying out in frustration as he went.

He didn’t know when the death message came through, or when Bad had found him and had to physically pull Dream away from the glass. Everything was a blur. The last thing he saw before he passed out was Bad’s white eyes panicking as Dream slipped from consciousness.

_Thunder1408 suffocated in a wall whilst fighting ˝̸̨̨͎̞̳̮̳̟͚̙͙̂̊̑̃̄̾̐͊͗͗͘͝͝ʹ̷̶̧̢͚͎͉̬̩̝̥͚͖̘̠͎̘̥̤͌̋̈́͆̓̌̀͌̌͛̇͆̂̕͝Ž̴̨̲̟͉͙̺̭̜͕̺̣̹͖͎̓̆ɯ̸̴̶̴̢̨̛̪̲̳̭͕̥̥̻̠͔͍͖̣͎̜͚͔͇̑͆͑͗̅̇̂̾͒̇̂͗͒̃̏͘͜ʝ̴̷̢͚͙̳̤̯̟̝͈͚̻͕͎̬̰͕̮͙̖̔̔̌͐̌͂͂̊̓͑̈́́̉̊̉͒̉̎̚˜̵̛̝̌̀̏̎̽͆̾̔̄͗͛͛n̷̡̪̫͍̘̤̮͖͂̊̚͜͝Ļ̵̘̗͔̣̪̔̉̎͆̐̐̓͆̈͐̾Ẓ̷̧̺̝̜̞̥͇́̓͛Ő̴̪̹͊̂̿̐̔̒͊̃ɂ̴̪̉̌͆̒͛̾́̆̌̆͒̚͝n̷̢̛̬̣̹̋̋̓̌͛̓͒̈ͅȤ̷̛̛̛͔̞͉̱̑͋̏̏͆͋̔̾͋_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 11/15 Alive.
> 
> Thanks so much for reading! It seems as though our characters are expiring rather quickly, hopefully the other groups in the basement are faring better than Dream and Bad, but I guess you'll have to wait for the next chapter to figure that out...


	13. Holes in the Wall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Sleepy Boys and Niki experience more dangers of the basement while Tommy and Tubbo give a frightening wakeup call. Can everyone get out of the basement? Or are they doomed to wander until they die...

Tubbo was pacing back and forth in the room he shared with Tommy, watching his chat box with concern as his messages went unanswered. Tommy was still sleeping somewhat peacefully- Tubbo had convinced him to at least try and get _some_ rest since he had stayed up all night hiding in the attic. Tubbo still felt guilty for not noticing Tommy’s absence the night before, he swore that he had seen Tommy when he went to bed but… obviously he was mistaken. After all, it was a long day and by the time the sun had set, Tubbo was exhausted from everything that had happened in the past twelve hours. He paused in his pacing to run a hand through his hair. It had only been a day. It had only taken one day for four people to die- at least he assumed the count was up to four. Tommy shifted in the bed, seemingly bothered, and before Tubbo could check on him, Tommy shot up from the bed and was suddenly wide awake, his breathing quick and scared.

“Hey! It’s okay, you’re safe. You’re safe.” Tubbo rushed to the other side of the bed, grabbing Tommy’s attention as he tried to get his breathing under control. “What time is it?” Tommy asked, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. “A little past four, I think. The sun’s probably gonna set in another two hours.” Tubbo explained softly, “You were out for about an hour and a half,”

“Are the others back yet?”

Tubbo’s face fell at Tommy’s question and he shook his head softly, “Not yet… they’ve been down there for two hours now and I haven’t heard anything other than…” His voice trailed off as he subconsciously checked the chat again, “Other than what…?” Tommy’s stomach sank- surly there couldn’t have been another- not so soon.

“Jack Manifold is dead… the message came through a few minutes after the hour the Mastermind gave us to find him…” Tubbo’s voice was soft, and full of unspoken pain, “Fundy too… I guess the others must have found him- I’m not sure who died first,” his voice cracked at the mention of Fundy’s name and he hastily rubbed at one of his eyes to prevent himself from crying. He’d done enough of that in the past twenty-four hours, he would just have to get over the deaths better, lock the fond memories he had with the deceased away deep in his heart, he could mourn when this whole stupid “game” was over.

Tommy was silent as he processed the news, checking the chat to see confirmation of Tubbo’s words- not that he didn’t trust Tubbo- he just had to see the proof himself. “Has anyone sent you a message?” Tubbo’s voice broke through his thoughts and he shook his head slightly, “I haven’t been able to get in contact with the others, either, that’s what’s worrying me… I just- I guess I just have a bad feeling…” Tubbo started pacing again, sending another message out, this time to everyone instead of a whisper.

_Tubbo_: Can anyone hear this? Please write back if you see this message._

The message seemingly fell on deaf ears, only Tommy mentioned halfheartedly that he saw the message come through, but he didn’t bother to respond since they were in the same room together. Tommy sent messages off to Wilbur and Dream, but just like Tubbo, he got no responses back- he wasn’t sure if the messages even sent properly. He swung his legs off the side of the bed and quickly put his shoes on, checking his inventory to assure he still had his iron sword and some torches.

“We’ve gotta go find them.” He announced to Tubbo as he stood up, a newfound sense of determination in his voice. “What?! No! Phil and the others told us to stay put!” Tubbo protested immediately, putting his chat window down to look Tommy in the eyes. “Yeah, and? They’ve been down there for _two hours_ , Tubbo. They would have sent us a message if they were fine, clearly- they aren’t.” Tommy crossed his arms over his chest, staring Tubbo down. “Maybe there’s… bad reception or something!” Tubbo insisted, not happy with the look of determination Tommy had.

“Bad reception?! Tubbo, this is Minecraft! Not a bloody phone service!” Tommy had to keep himself from shouting, every minute he spent arguing with Tubbo making him more and more anxious to head down to the basement. “I know that! It’s just… what if they’re all gone?! What if the killer is just waiting for us to leave the room to kill us!” Tubbo countered, his voice getting higher pitched. “Don’t be ridiculous, there’s no way that could happen! The others are extremely talented at PvP _and_ they’re sticking together! The mastermind would be an idiot to attack them in groups!” Tommy argued, “This is stupid, we need to go down there-“ Tommy tried to walk past Tubbo, but before he could reach the door, Tubbo grabbed his wrist.

“Why are you so determined to go down there?!”

“I-… because!!”

“Because what?! Fundy and Jack are _dead,_ Tommy!”

“I know that!!”

“THEN WHY ARE YOU SO INSISTANT TO BE THE NEXT ONE?!” Tubbo exploded, eyes wild, “I can’t lose you too, Tommy…” the anger disappeared as fast as it appeared, his shoulders slumped, and he stared at the floor as the emotions he had been holding back earlier came rushing back. Tommy stayed silent for a few moments, eyes softening at Tubbo’s expression, before wordlessly pulling Tubbo in for a hug. The two of them taking a moment to grieve the loss of their two friends- their fellow L’Manbergians.

“You won’t…” He mumbled into Tubbo’s shoulder, and Tubbo gripped onto him as if Tommy would disappear any moment.

“Promise?”

“Promise…”

* * *

_About an hour earlier,_

“Have you heard anything back from Dream?” Niki asked, standing in the back of the group with Wilbur, who shook his head slightly. “Not since before we got down here,” He mumbled back, voice flat and detached from the situation. “You messaged him before we came down?” Niki frowned; she didn’t know the two had been in contact. “Hm? Oh, yeah… just asked him about a few things, what he’d noticed thus far, stuff like that.” Wilbur seemed to wake up a little, but he still looked distracted. She slowed down a bit, letting Phil and Techno search a room while she hung back with Wilbur.

“Wil, are you okay? You seem bothered…” Niki’s voice was soft as she grabbed Wil’s sleeve. His eyes softened at her concern, he wished he could tell her what was on his mind but- he didn’t know everything yet, and it was dangerous to spread rumors. “Yeah… I guess this whole situation is just really affecting me,” he offered weakly, finding it hard to lie to her. “Like how?” She inquired, refusing to drop the subject. “Ah… I just feel like certain people aren’t telling the whole truth, that’s all.” His answer was vague, and he turned away from her to go investigate the next room with Phil and Techno.

She watched him leave for a few seconds, concern etched across her face, and it took her a few moments to realize her torch was slowly dying- running out of fuel. “Ah, Scheiße,” She cursed softly to herself and pulled another torch out of her inventory, using a flint and steel to ignite it. However, it was giving her troubles- only giving off a small spark when she tried to light it. This made it very easy for a certain redstone spider to creep down from its position on the ceiling and find the perfect angle of attack.

It took her quite a few tries, resulting in more mumbled curses, before the torch finally lit in a burst of flame. She smiled at the accomplishment- but the smile soon dropped as she noticed the eight glowing red eyes stared at her from the wall. She didn’t have any time to react, the torch dropped from her hand as the metal spider hit her in the chest with more force than normal spiders used. She let out a quick shriek right before it attacked, but it shoved her hard towards the stone wall behind her- her head cracking with a terrible sound. The spider reared up to deliver a serious, possibly even fatal, blow when Wilbur ran out of the room he had entered only moments earlier.

“Niki?!” He scoured the darkness, spying her abandoned torch easily, and following its light as it illuminated the mechanical cave spider; It’s head slowly swinging back to look at Wil, the neck bending at an impossible angle as it’s mandibles chittered with a horrible scraping sound. Wil’s eyes soon noticed Niki’s unconscious form beneath the spider and his heart nearly stopped, in the dim light he couldn’t see if she was breathing or not; and he saw red.

He lunged forward and slammed his foot into the spider’s body, sending it backwards and off of Niki’s body- but it didn’t go nearly as far as Wilbur expected, and it quickly spun in the air to land on its feet. It hissed loudly but sounded more like a creeper than a normal spider, it leaped towards him, so Wilbur quickly snatched up Niki’s torch off the ground and used it like a club; Smashing it into the spiders face and sending sparks flying as the spider once again flew down the hallway. It landed on its feet again, but this time, it slid backwards a few inches- leaving gashes in the stone. “If you wanna kill Niki then you have to go through me first, YOU SPIDER FUCK.” He shouted, voice raw with pure anger, as he began stalking towards the spider.

Surprisingly enough- the spider was actually looking worse for wear- with one of its glowing red eyes cracked down the middle and its body spilling redstone dust onto the stone below it. Its hiss this time was louder and almost deeper as it reared back, it’s long mandibles glinting dangerously in the torch light.

“Oh, piss off you useless sack of redstone!” Wilbur snarled and lifted his torch, ready for the spider’s next lunge, but in his anger- he forgot that mobs have various forms of attacks. Instead of lunging at his chest, like the last few times, it aimed for his legs, sinking its mandibles deep into Wilbur’s right knee. He cried out in pain, but reacted quickly, slamming the butt of the torch into another one of the spider’s eyes, shattering it without a second thought. The spider wrenched its teeth out of his knee with ease and leaped up towards his chest, successfully slamming into him and knocking him over- Wilbur’s injured knee giving out below him. The spider slammed its sharp legs down into Wil’s chest, barely scraping against bone, and pinning him to the ground, its other legs skewering his arms into the earth to prevent it him from fighting back. Its bloody mandibles dripped as it reared up for a final attack- aiming for Wilbur’s throat.

Before it could finish its attack, however, a diamond sword slammed into its face, sinking deep into its face and chest, the hissing stopping with a screech of metal against metal, and it released its hold on Wilbur- falling to the ground dead.

Techno was standing above Wilbur, sword gripped tightly in one hand as he breathed hard, before suddenly glaring at Wilbur, “Would it kill you to yell for help before charging into battle?!” He hissed, but Wilbur could see the worry written all over his face and the panic in his eyes. Techno sighed and put the sword back into his inventory before leaning down to help Wilbur stand, “Can you walk?” Wilbur winced as he got to his feet, his leg numbed from the knee down. “Not easily-“ he grumbled, but quickly turned his attention back to Niki- who was being attended to by Phil.

Phil caught his eye “She’s alive, but she hit her head really hard and is probably concussed,” he said before Wilbur could worry too much, “Do either of you have potions?”

Wilbur shook his head and Techno echoed the movement, causing Phil to sigh. “It’s going to take her a while to wake up then. I don’t think we’re going to be able to move her, either.” Phil said, gently wrapping a bandage around her head to staunch any bleeding that occurred and rested her on the floor with his kimono jacket as a pillow under her head, “Let me see if I can do anything about your knee, Wilbur,” Phil said and walked over to where Techno and Wilbur were, motioning for Wil to sit down.

“I’m fine, really,” Wilbur tried to protest, and Techno raised an eyebrow as if to say “Oh really?” and let go of his hold on Wilbur, who quickly dropped to the ground as his leg gave out… again.

“I hate you.” Wilbur glared up at Techno, who only laughed as he went to lean on the opposite side of the tunnel, cleaning the redstone dust off his diamond sword as he kept watch. Wilbur sighed and scooched over to Phil, who pulled out the last of his bandages and started to carefully clean and bandage Wil’s knee.

“So what the hell was that thing?” Phil asked as he wrapped the bandage. Wil winced before responding, “I dunno, honestly, I heard Niki shout and when I came out here that mechanical bastard was standing over her and trying to kill her.” He said, glancing over at her to make sure she was still breathing. “That’s one hell of a way to use redstone… The mastermind really has a thing for the stuff huh-?” Phil trailed off as a message floated through their chat,

“ **Time’s up.** ”

The three members of Sleepy Bois Incorporated fell into an uneasy silence, tensing as they waited for an attack. After about a minute of silence, however, they relaxed somewhat “Has it been an hour?” Techno asked, his iron grip on his sword easing, but he continued to watch the hallways for any sign of threats. “I think so…” Phil breathed in shock, “No one found them in time, did they?” he finished bandaging Wilbur’s knee and began looking at the other cuts the spider gave Wil.

“That’s even if the mastermind was going to let us find them…” Wilbur responded bitterly, resting his head back against the wall, “For all we know- this was just a ruse to get us all down here.” He winced slightly as Phil cleaned the wound on his arm. “Wil’s got a point, we could have just walked straight into a trap- I mean, this is two times now that we’ve been attacked. Plus, it’s only getting worse.” Techno glanced back at Niki, her face furrowed in pain even in her unconscious state.

“Once Niki is awake, we’re gonna focus on getting out of here- obviously we didn’t make it in time…” Phil brushed off his pants as he stood, and went to stand with Techno, “So the dead count is up to four now?” he clarified, pulling out his own weapon- an enchanted bow. “I think so, that’s if the others survived any attacks they might have encountered.” Techno mumbled back. “We really need to get out of this basement, then.” Phil sighed.

Wilbur had scooted over to Niki, making sure to keep an eye on her in case anything went wrong or if she woke up. He ran a hand through his hair and pulled his beanie off, fiddling with it in his lap, “Please be okay, Niki…” He sighed, barely noticing the next message that appeared in chat,

_Thunder1408 suffocated in a wall whilst fighting ˝̸̨̨͎̞̳̮̳̟͚̙͙̂̊̑̃̄̾̐͊͗͗͘͝͝ʹ̷̶̧̢͚͎͉̬̩̝̥͚͖̘̠͎̘̥̤͌̋̈́͆̓̌̀͌̌͛̇͆̂̕͝Ž̴̨̲̟͉͙̺̭̜͕̺̣̹͖͎̓̆ɯ̸̴̶̴̢̨̛̪̲̳̭͕̥̥̻̠͔͍͖̣͎̜͚͔͇̑͆͑͗̅̇̂̾͒̇̂͗͒̃̏͘͜ʝ̴̷̢͚͙̳̤̯̟̝͈͚̻͕͎̬̰͕̮͙̖̔̔̌͐̌͂͂̊̓͑̈́́̉̊̉͒̉̎̚˜̵̛̝̌̀̏̎̽͆̾̔̄͗͛͛n̷̡̪̫͍̘̤̮͖͂̊̚͜͝Ļ̵̘̗͔̣̪̔̉̎͆̐̐̓͆̈͐̾Ẓ̷̧̺̝̜̞̥͇́̓͛Ő̴̪̹͊̂̿̐̔̒͊̃ɂ̴̪̉̌͆̒͛̾́̆̌̆͒̚͝n̷̢̛̬̣̹̋̋̓̌͛̓͒̈ͅȤ̷̛̛̛͔̞͉̱̑͋̏̏͆͋̔̾͋._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 11/15 alive...
> 
> Unlucky Chapter 13! To be honest- I never thought I'd make it this far in the story when I first started, so thanks again for all the kindness and support! We've still got a ways to go before this story ends, but 13 is definitely a cool landmark.  
> (Also a big thanks to my writing buddy: That_One_Doc_Dragon. I couldn't do this without her <3)
> 
> As always, thanks for reading!!


	14. Message in a Bottle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We finally catch up with George and Sapnap, hiding from Dream's attacker, and we finally learn what became of Dream.

_You whispered to Dream: Are you okay?_

_You whispered to Dream: We managed to escape the psycho, but we never saw you after the crossbow shot._

_You whispered to Dream: You better not be dead, Dream._

_You whispered to Dream: Please be okay…_

Sapnap slumped against the wall, his head leaning back and staring up at the dark cobblestone roof, his chat window dimly illuminating his form as the duo caught their breath. George was a few feet away on the other side of the doorway, using the small window of the jungle wood door to watch for their pursuer.

When Dream got hit by the bolt- they tried to go after him, certain he was too injured to continue on his own and that he’d be an easy target alone. They couldn’t get two steps without Dream’s attacker stalking towards them, they could barely see the person in the dim light- but Dream’s attacks seemed to have not hindered the person in the slightest. Sapnap had tried to chase after Dream, but George grabbed him by the arm and pulled him out of the way of a powerful slash from the diamond sword. Thanks to the lights still being out, they couldn’t see the mastermind’s face, and they weren’t too keen on getting close enough to find out.

The mastermind pursued them for at least another 10 minutes, it was hard to keep track of time when running from a psychopath. The only good part about the person pursuing them was that Dream was safe.

Sapnap put his face in his hands, groaning quietly as he tried to stop thinking of worst-case scenarios, but the imagery of Dream collapsed somewhere, bleeding out and dying, wouldn’t leave his head. With shaking hands, he sent more messages out, it was all they could do at the moment, the mastermind was still out in the halls and the mansion wasn’t separating them- it was actually remaining stagnant for once.

_You whispered to Dream: George and I are still safe by the way. Don’t worry about us._

_You whispered to Badboyhalo: Are you alright?_

_You whispered to Badboyhalo: Stay alert, the mastermind has already attacked us once._

_You whispered to Badboyhalo: If you find the exit- take it. We’ll find our way out._

He didn’t have the heart to tell Bad the truth, that Dream was missing in action and severely injured- it’s not the kind of thing you should say over texts. George glanced over at him from his post at the door, looking just as tense as Sapnap, but worried as well- not just for Dream but for themselves. So far, the psycho with the diamond sword had passed by their hiding spot twice, dragging the stupid weapon on the floor to scare them. They always knew he was coming when the redstone lamps flicked off again, they would turn on when the psycho wasn’t there and flick off when he was about to show up- always shrouding him in darkness.

“George, how the hell are we gonna get out of here?” Sapnap whispered, slowly standing up to join the Brit at the door. “I don’t know…” George sighed, eyes straining from watching the hallway, “This asshole won’t give up and we have no clue where the exit is,” He let Sapnap take his watch position, using the opportunity to give his eyes a break and to rest his feet. “-and it doesn’t help that our inventories were wiped,” Sap complained, “This feels like a horror movie- except we’re the dumb white girls who get killed off first.”

“You mean you’re the dumb white girl- I’m easily final girl material,” George snarked and the humor lightened the mood somewhat, “Oh please, Georgie, don’t kid yourself- you’d be offed five minutes in.” Sap giggled softly, finally getting his mind off Dream’s mortality status. “Wha-? No way! If I die that early, then you wouldn’t even make it to the title screen!!” George argued back.

“Well at least we both know Dream would make it… farther…”

Reality hit like a ton of bricks. They basically _were_ in a horror movie, and while they hadn’t died first… Well, let’s just say it was a hard pill to swallow.

“Have you heard anything from him?” George’s soft voice broke the silence, glancing down at his own unanswered messages to Dream, but Sapnap only shook his head. “Haven’t heard from Bad either, any luck with Wilbur?” Sapnap glanced down at his best friend; the iconic white sunglasses were pushed up onto his forehead and his shirt was covered in cobwebs and dust from their running. Sapnap didn’t fare much better. The mastermind had gotten a hit on him when he lagged too far behind and the white shirt he always wore had stained in parts from the blood.

“Nope… I don’t even know if they’re seeing these. Is it possible to block messages?” George wondered out loud, he didn’t do much server work, so he wasn’t sure if that was a legitimate command. “I think so? I dunno, you and Dream do most of the coding- if anyone would know, you would.” Sapnap brushed off the question, focusing on watching for flickering lights. “Well I’ve never heard of doing it before- wait! I got a message-?”

George’s hopes were quickly shattered as he read over the anonymous message.

**“Time’s up.”**

The two boys stilled at the ominous message, their first thoughts going to Dream- had this been a test?

“Has it been an hour?” George’s voice was tense, slowly rising to his feet. “I’m not sure, it’s possible… Do you think…?” George shook his head at Sapnap’s question. “No… No. I’m sure they’re talking about Fundy or Jack-“ As soon as the words left his mouth, he regretted it. Fundy and Jack were his friends too- he shouldn’t have been relieved at the thought that it wasn’t Dream the message was referring to.

“Wait… but if the mastermind is off killing them- he wouldn’t still be here, right?” Sapnap slowly creaked the door open, watching the lights to see if they changed. After a minute of steady light beams, he opened the door fully, an extinguished torch in one hand for some self-defense. Yet nothing was there, it was just the two of them in that empty hallway. “I think it’s safe…” His voice was still hushed, not wanting the sound to echo down the tunnels and potentially alert their stalker.

“Alright… but keep an eye out, we can’t let him get the drop on us- not again.” George tried to block out the image if Dream getting hit with the crossbow, “We find Dream, and then we get out of here, got it?”

“Got it.”

* * *

Dream’s head was spinning, his body was slowly waking up- but the blood loss made him feel fuzzy- as if every part of his body was numbed instead of just his arm. He groaned at the headache forming in the front of his head and tried to sit up, but a hand kept him laying down.

“Easy,” Bad’s voice was soft, but Dream heard the worried tone behind it, “You lost a lot of blood, but I was able to get you back to a steady position. You’re lucky you had that potion on you, or you would have been a goner-“ Bad explained as Dream adjusted to the lights in the room. “Wait, what potion?” Dream cut him off, furrowing his brows.

“The regeneration potion? It was in your pockets…” Bad showed him the empty potion bottle, the same bottle Dream had picked up ten minutes ago. Dream paled at this, “Well… I’m glad I’m not dead right now- I found that potion in the mansion, it wasn’t mine.” He winced as Bad helped him sit up, head swimming with the effort. “You _WHAT?!_ ” Bad practically screeched, looking back and forth between the bottle and Dream, “I could have killed you and not even known!!” Dream laughed lightly at this.

“Well, I guess we got lucky then, can you help me up?”

“You really should be resting, Dream. You almost died.” Bad protested, but Dream was determined. “I can rest once we get out of here, if we don’t get moving the basement might trap us in this room forever.” He argued back and made grabby hands up at Bad. Bad sighed and grabbed onto Dream’s good arm and helped pull him into a standing position. Dream stumbled considerably, but with Bad there to steady him, he managed to not fall on his face. Bad put an arm around Dream’s waist and had Dream put an arm around his shoulders, the two of them managing to help Dream limp out of the room. Before the door closed, Dream glanced back at the hourglass- which was now shattered and spilling sand over half the room.

“Is Jack-?“

“He’s gone…” Bad said softly and pulled a pair of red and blue glasses from his pocket, “After I stabilized you I went to at least check his body- but this was the only thing left…” Dream didn’t question him, he could see the grief in Bad’s white eyes, and the guilt of not getting there sooner.

They limped down the hallway in silence, they didn’t check many rooms- focusing on finding the staircase out of the basement, Bad didn’t want Dream to overexert himself so whenever they had to investigate something, Bad would take the lead.

“So, where’s Skeppy?” Dream broke the silence, “I thought you two were travelling together? Buddy system ‘n’ all that.” He asked as Bad took a quick look into a nearby room. Bad winced at the question, “We got into a fight and I guess the mansion felt it? The next thing I knew, there was a literal wall between us… and I haven’t seen him since...” He explained softly, “What about George and Sapnap? They were with you- actually speaking of which- who did this to you?” Bad stopped walking, mentally hitting himself for not asking that in the first place.

“Honestly? I don’t know, I assumed it was the mastermind but he blinded me so I couldn’t see his face. I kinda got a look at their shoes, but I was also having to sword fight the dick, so I didn’t get a great look.” Dream explained, “Whoever they were got the drop on us and wiped our inventories- but they let me have a stone sword, so I had to fight the person off while George and Sap ran. I tried to follow them- but the person hit me with a crossbow bolt, so I left them.” His shoulder throbbed at the memory and reminded him of his mistake.

“You left them?!” Bad scolded, “What if the mastermind continued to track you down? You’re in no state to fight them again- they would have just killed you!”

“That was kinda the point, Bad…” Dream mumbled sheepishly and Bad stopped dead, looking at Dream with horror, “No, no, not in the way you think! I didn’t mean it in a way that I _wanted_ to be killed- I just wanted to lure the dude away from George and Sap-!“ Dream hastily added, “They didn’t have weapons so I wanted to buy them time since I assumed I was already a goner- I just got lucky when I lost the dude…”

“Dream…”

“Let’s just move on-“ Dream pulled away from Bad and attempted to walk on his own, the regeneration potion finally kicking in and healing him just enough to function properly. Bad sighed, but knew Dream was done talking about the subject and he wouldn’t get anything else out of him. “Alright… but just remember that we need you just as much as you need us…” He added softly and pulled his torch back out, lighting the empty sconces they were passing. Dream said nothing in return, simply grabbing Bad’s open hand and leading the way, once again missing the comfort his mask provided. They went back to silence, this one being less awkward than before, and continued to search for the exit and checking for any potential attackers. They weren’t finding anything noteworthy, just empty rooms and wooden walls- at least that was all they found until they rounded the corner.

At the end of the hall, staring at them as if daring them to enter, was a set of open iron doors, showing a staircase going further down. “So… we both agree that’s a trap, right?” Bad broke the silence, uneasily glancing at Dream. “Oh yeah… but…” he trailed off, Bad didn’t like where this was going, “But what?”

“But we haven’t found Fundy yet…” Dream mumbled back, already dreading the idea of going through the doors. “You can’t be serious.” Bad paled, “Dream- that basically has a giant neon sign saying ‘Trap down here!’ and you actually want to investigate it?!” he demanded, and Dream only shrank further away from him, “ _Want_ is not the term I would use- but… thinking about this from the mastermind’s perspective- I don’t think they’ll kill another person today. They said themselves that they don’t want the game to end too quickly and right now- they’ve established that they only kill twice a day. Theoretically- we’re safe.” He explained hesitantly and Bad smacked a hand to his face. “You’re not gonna let this go, are you?” Bad mumbled through his hand, “You and Skeppy are both so insistent to go headfirst into traps… Fine- but only this once and we stick together at all times- you are not allowed to let go of my hand, got it?” Dream gave a slight squeeze to Bad’s hand, “Got it.”

All things considered, the creepy staircase was actually pretty lit up, and it wasn’t hard for Dream to spot the snapped tripwire at the top of the stairs. Glancing further down the stairs, there were splotches of blood here and there, and Dream had a feeling he knew what they just walked into.

“Bad… Are you sure you want to come with me?” Dream gave a nervous glance at Bad, who looked like he was trying to steel his nerves, “We have to stay together.” Was all he said.

So, Dream took the lead, watching the stairs carefully to check for anymore hidden trip wires- or really any traps for that matter. Other than the occasional spot of blood- the stone staircase was safe- no traps and no surprises- plus the doors up top remained open. As they got closer and closer to the bottom landing, however, the blood got more frequent and the… smell only got worse and worse. By the time they got to the bottom of the stairs, they were breathing through their shirts and sincerely dreading going down the stairs in the first place.

The first thing Dream noticed coming down the stairs were the rows upon rows of iron cages stretching back for seemingly ever, yet all of them empty of any prisoners, but the iron bars were still covered in scratch marks. He took a few steps forward to investigate them further but felt Bad not moving with him, his grip tight on Dream’s hand as he silently stared in abject horror towards the back corner of the room.

“Bad-?” As Dream turned, he realized why Bad had stopped dead- why he was shaking at the sight before them. In the corner of the room, there was someone curled in on themselves- trying to protect themselves. The body was mutilated, and their eyes were forever open as a pool of blood reflected their empty orbs. Around their body were various scattered items- bones, sweet berries, and leads. Now Dream knew why the scratched-up cells were empty: They had been full of animals, most likely wolves and foxes based on the item drops around the corpse. Dream could hardly stand to look at the body, the look of fear on his friend’s face being etched into his brain. Bad dropped to his knees in shock and Dream wished he could join him.

It was Fundy.

Fundy was dead- and his body was staring right at them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 11/15 Alive...
> 
> Thanks so much for reading! I apologize for the wait, life's been hectic, but I hope you enjoyed none the less.  
> and don't forget to take care of yourselves! <3


	15. Redstoned

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Phil and Techno discover the joys of redstone exposure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So before you all read this chapter, I wanted to apologize for the late upload, writers block hit me hard and I struggled to get this one done.
> 
> I also decided to make this chapter lighter and more wholesome so that the fic isn't weighed down by all the angst. Hope you all enjoy, and thanks for reading!! <3

* * *

“Are you sure I can’t kill him?”

“Yes, Techno, I’m sure.”

“Just sayin’- it’d put him out of his misery-“

“Techno.”

The pink haired man threw his hands up in surrender, “Fine, fine- but _you_ get to take care of Mr. Crazy over there.” Phil grimaced at the statement as he returned his gaze to the two injured members of their party. Not long after the attack happened, Wilbur started to get… loopy… At first, they were worried it was poison or blood loss causing Wil to act that way, but they couldn’t find evidence behind either claim; Phil even broke the redstone spider down to make sure it didn’t have any hidden poison chambers. That’s when he remembered how Techno had killed the thing- he had stabbed it right on top of Wilbur, which spilled redstone dust all over and no doubt got into some of Wilbur’s wounds.

Redstone was a funny kind of ingredient. It had the ability to transfer electric currents from place to place and power different types of machinery- but if someone was exposed to too much of the dust and it gets into their bloodstream- it can have… interesting results…

“What’s so bad about eating sand???? I don’t understand why you guys are so weirddd about it… it’s basically salt…” Wilbur complained from his spot next to Niki, making wild movements with his arms as if he could sway the others to believe him. Phil sighed into his hands, “Why does he always go on about this when he inhales too much redstone… it’s always about eating sand…” he grimaced, remembering the various times Wilbur tried to “help” Phil with his redstone contraptions. Techno started chuckling at this, “You mean this isn’t the first time he’s been like this?” he asked as Wilbur fell onto his side and became confused at the new perspective of the tunnel. “Yes… he’s done this multiple times. I always tell him to be careful around redstone and not to put his face too close to the dust- but every time he tries to help me, he ends up getting loopy…” Phil explained as he sat Wil back up.

“I aaam careful, Philllll… it’s just so pretty…” Wil giggled and pat the side of Phil’s face, who simply rolled his eyes. “He’s been banned from my workshop for this exact reason- it’s also why he’s not allowed to go mining by himself.” Phil sighed as Wilbur once again fell over onto his side. Then, despite his postion from the floor, Wilbur started making grabby hands towards Techno, frowning when Techno didn’t look at him. He sat up slowly and crawled towards Techno, grabbing the bottom of the fur-lined cloak, and draping it over himself with a satisfied hum. Techno stared at him with furrowed brows,

“Why. Why have you done this.” He said simply, while Phil started dying of laughter in the background. “Cold.” Wilbur hummed, pulling it closer around his shoulders. “…and you didn’t think to just ask?” Techno questioned, unbuckling the cloak from his shoulders and dropping it on to Wil, who clasped it around his own shoulders proudly. “Nope!” Wil started wandering around the tunnel, showing the cloak off to some invisible audience; his aforementioned coldness not seeming to bother him anymore. Techno simply sighed and grabbed the end of the cloak to keep Wil from wandering off, and turned his attention back to Phil, who was checking in on Niki,

“How does she look? Any changes?” Phil shook his head at Techno’s question. “She’s still out, the bleeding on the back of her head has stopped, but the hit really affected her; it might be another thirty minutes before she wakes up.” He adjusted the makeshift pillow under her head and watched her anxiously. Techno could see the worry in Phil’s eyes and gave him a soft smile, “I’m sure she’ll be fine, Phil, you’ve done all you can without potions…” he reassured him, but Phil still looked concerned. “I know… we just need to get going soon-“

“We’re goin’ on a tripp in our favorite rocket shippp zoomin’ through the skyyyyy,” Wilbur sang softly as he plopped back down into a sitting position, and the other two started laughing in response. “Leave it to Wil to make us laugh, no matter how injured or loopy he is…” Phil chuckled, and rose to his feet to keep watch with Techno.

So far it had been quiet after the spider attack, the basement seemed to have stopped moving around them as well- at least it sounded like it. Despite being trapped in a server where a maniac was hunting them down, in this moment they felt calm- amused even. Sure, Wilbur being loopy would make it hard for them to escape in the case of another attack, but at least they were laughing and somewhat happy for once. Phil only wished Niki was awake so that she could enjoy Wilbur's antics, though he also just wished she would wake up in general.

However, their laughter quickly died when Phil and Techno heard the snap of a twig further down the tunnel. Techno's sword was in his hands within seconds, shifting so that he was standing in front of the other three people. Phil grabbed Wilbur and covered his mouth with a hand so that Wilbur didn't attract any more attention than he already had; Wilbur protested- but Phil's grip was ironclad. 

Sure enough- footsteps continued to echo down the hallway in their direction. Techno glanced over at Phil and the two seemed to have a silent conversation- deciding whether or not to run or stand their ground. Phil glanced back at Niki and shook his head- they'd have to stand and fight because Niki couldn't be moved without serious effort. Techno grimaced at this and turned back to the tunnel, straining his eyes to try and see whoever was approaching them. The person was shrouded in darkness, just like the person who attacked them earlier- and Techno couldn’t help but have flashbacks to seeing that axe fly towards his face- he had dodged it, but only by a hair. He refused to make that mistake again.

For a minute- there was silence. The only thing that could be heard were the footsteps of a potential attacker and Wilbur’s muffled complaints. Since the tunnel was so dark, Techno relied on his hearing- on the sound of the footsteps getting louder and louder- to prepare his attack. Then- when he was sure the person was only a few feet away- he attacked.

He lunged forward, finding the person in the darkness and grabbing them by the shirt and slamming them against the wall; His sword pressing against their throat.

“PLEASE DON’T KILL ME-!”

“…Skeppy?”

“Techno?”

Techno sighed and released his grip on the prankster, his sword disappearing back into his inventory, “Phil it’s okay- it was just Skeppy-“ Techno sighed, walking back towards the other three members.

“SKIP LEG DAY!”

“It’s Skeppy, Wilbur.”

“Sleepy.”

“Close enough.”

Skeppy stepped into the light behind Techno and stared at Wilbur with a confused look, glancing at Phil in curiosity. “Redstone exposure, he got bit by a mechanical spider,” Phil said simply, as if that was a normal, everyday occasion. “Oh- cool, cool, cool…” Skeppy squeaked, still spooked from his encounter with Techno. “What happened to Bad? I thought you two were traveling together?” Phil asked as Skeppy leaned on the wall across from him.

“Bad? …oh. Um- we got split up… Basement put a wall between us,” Skeppy mumbled, nervously adjusting his beanie over his ears. Techno frowned, eyeing Skeppy up and down, “And what have you been doing since you two split?” He asked, voice low, as he stood protectively in front of Niki and Wil. “Techno!” Phil scolded with a quick glare. “What? Is it wrong to be suspicious?! He was alone for who knows how long, and he got the drop on us pretty easily!” Techno retorted, refusing to take his eyes off Skeppy, who couldn’t meet the other’s eyes.

“It’s okay, Phil- I’d act the same way in your situation,” Skeppy smiled nervously, though it came off as more of a grimace, and took a deep breath, “Earlier, not long after we came down here, Bad and I got into… a fight, of sorts. It was just an argument, but it got heated and I turned away for a second and bam. There was just a wall where Bad used to be. I’m not sure if the mastermind was watching or if this basement just randomly changes around- but no matter how hard I tried- I couldn’t find my way back to him…

* * *

“BAD?!”

Skeppy slammed his hands against the wall, trying desperately to break the blocks in between them- but no matter hard he hit- the brick wouldn’t break. He hit and hit and hit until he lost his breath, and leaned against the wall, trying to wish the stupid thing away. After a few minutes, the stinging in Skeppy’s hands shocked him back to real life, his knuckles were scraped up and bleeding. It wasn’t exactly his best idea on the planet- but he couldn’t help but think that Bad was dying on the other side of the wall.

In reality- he had no clue where Bad was- he didn’t even know how the mastermind was doing this. There were never any piston sounds, no feelings of teleportation- nothing. The only thing he could think of was command blocks, but even then- the commands were supposed to go through the chat. He sighed and pulled the small roll of bandages from his pocket- Bad always forced him to carry it around in case of- well in case of situations like this.

The two almost never separated, so usually Bad took care of any injuries Skeppy would get when running around the different servers, but this time- well, Skeppy just hoped he remembered how to tie bandages correctly… He winced as the rough fabric brushed against the sore skin of his knuckles, but at least the pressure would stop the bleeding.

_You whispered to BadBoyHalo: Are you okay?!_

_You whispered to BadBoyHalo: I don’t know where you are- please respond!_

_You whispered to BadBoyHalo: If you see this- you better respond you muffinhead._

Skeppy took a deep breath and turned around, willing his feet forward. The dead end that had previously trapped the two of them had suddenly opened up into a new, different hallway, one that was much brighter than the one he came from. There were small sconces every few feet that crackled softly as he passed by, and unlike before- this hallway had no doors to investigate, just rough, stone walls and sconces. He glanced into his inventory and pulled out his axe, it was damaged, but it would still do its job if he needed it to.

He tried to step as softly as he could, but the enclosed area of the tunnel made it hard- with each step echoing ominously around him. He pushed on through his fear, determined to find Bad, and then get the hell out of the stupid basement.

Suddenly he felt a rush of wind, the sconces crackling in protest and threatened to completely extinguish. He thought quickly and pulled a torch from his inventory and lit it on the nearest sconce; which ended up being a good idea, as mere seconds later the wind extinguished all the sconces.

“Who’s there?! I have an axe!!” He yelled down the tunnel, slowly creeping closer and closer to the source of the wind. Yelling wasn’t the smartest thing to do in a situation like his- but if he was gonna be taken down, then he was gonna be taken down on his own terms. The wind got harsher and harsher, tearing at his clothes and extinguishing his torch before he could make any use of it. As he got closer to the end, he almost couldn’t hear anything over the rush of air and his eyes were watering. The forcefulness of the wind made him to look away and blindly break through the end of the tunnel.

Suddenly the wind stopped, and when he finally looked up- his heart dropped.

He was back at that stupid cavern with the minecart, and once again he felt the unescapable urge to run down the tunnel- and this time Bad wasn’t there to stop him. His mind screamed at him to investigate the tunnel, but he forced himself to stay right where he was- staring at the dark entrance as he fought an internal war.

“I… I shouldn’t-“ He gritted his teeth as he spoke, and forced himself to turn away from it, ignoring the sudden feeling of being watched, “I’M NOT GOING IN YOUR STUPID MINESHAFT!!” He shouted to no one in particular, mostly to convince himself against the idea. The minute he yelled- he regretted it. Suddenly, the sound of clicking iron was coming from the hallway he had just escaped, and eight glowing red eyes peered at him from the darkness as a mechanical spider crawled across the roof and towards him. He took a step back and thrust his axe forward,

“Don’t come any closer, or I’ll-!” He froze- his diamond axe was no longer in his hand, and neither was his torch- in fact: his whole inventory had been wiped, “What?!” He panicked, desperately scanning the room for a weapon, but the spider only came closer and closer. It paused only to drop from the ceiling to the floor, it’s approach quickening as it locked onto its target, “Oh you gotta be kidding me-“ Skeppy grimaced and glanced back at the minecart, then back to the spider. It was either instant death or the possibility of a trapped death. He liked the chances better of the minecart.

He turned his back on the spider and sprinted across the room, ignoring the spider’s hiss of satisfaction at the thrill of the chase- the spider had the speed, but he had the advantage of an early start. As he leaped into the minecart, he could feel the spider’s mandibles scape against his leg as he barely made it in time- the minecart lurching forward at the sudden push of movement. Soon he was sailing down the tunnel, the spider loosing helplessly against the speed of the minecart as the rail dipped into a steep descent.

Skeppy held on tight to the minecart as it raced at impossible speeds, he was beginning to think that the spider would have been a safer bet than this death trap of a railway. When he wasn’t ducking into the cart as it sailed under low hanging stalagtites, he was holding on for dear life as the rail turned near hair pin curves. It was simultaneously the scariest thing he had ever done and also the coolest thing he’s ever done.

Then- the cart came to a screeching halt as it slammed into wooden block at the end of the track, and Skeppy was sent flying out of the cart and went tumbling for a good 10 blocks away before landing on his back- staring up into the dark heights of the tunnel. He stayed there for a moment- catching his breath- before busting out laughing, surprised and elated to be alive as the adrenaline racing through his system started to taper off.

He sat up slowly, wincing at the new bruises he had received and stumbled to his feet, shaking off the slight dizziness he felt from the hits to his head. “Well- I’m alive- that’s good… but where the heck am I?” he glanced around the glow stone lit cavern and found two exits- disregarding the tunnel he had just come from.

One tunnel had its entrance lined with obsidian, and when he went to investigate closer- he found that the tunnel descended further into the earth, so far that he couldn’t see the end. The obsidian continued down the tunnel in a path- as if trying to lead people to follow it “down the rabbit hole”, so to speak.

The other tunnel’s entrance was lined with decaying birchwood planks- covered in moss and other plant life. In the distance of this tunnel he could see a faint source of light, flickering softly in a way similar to torchlight or campfires.

He hesitated at this crossroads, glancing back and forth between the obsidian pathway and the birch pathway. Half of his brain wanted him to continue downwards, to keep exploring and discovering new pathways- but the other have pleaded for him to go down the birch path. In the end- he couldn’t help but think that Bad would never have gone into a tunnel so dark and mysterious- and if he were there, he would smack Skeppy upside the head for even thinking about going into a place as sketchy as the obsidian pathway. So even though his brain urged him to follow the darkness- his heart pulled him towards the light- to other people- to a way out.

He couldn’t help but feel he made a mistake choosing this path, and after going about ten blocks down the birch tunnel- he turned to investigate the other one. Alas, his entrance no longer existed- instead he was greeted by a wall of birch wood. He cursed softly and turned to continue down the hallway, jumping somewhat as he stepped onto a twig- snapping it in half.

The sound shocked him back to his senses and he continued down the hallway- he’d keep going for Bad’s sake. He promised Bad they’d make it out together- and he wasn’t planning on breaking that promise any time soon…


	16. Will-o'-the-Wisp

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dream and Bad find themselves in a sticky situation and George finally finds the key to the basement's tricks.

George and Sapnap wandered around the hallways in relative silence, holding onto each other’s hands to prevent them from getting separated as they tried to find some sign of life. The basement had changed on them a number of times so far, so they kept their guard up; especially because they didn’t know where their homicidal stalker had run off to. In their travels, they had made it to a different part of the basement, a part they hadn’t explored with Dream. These hallways weren’t lit with glowstone lamps, instead the light source had returned back to the sconces that they had come across when they first entered the basement.

“Do you think we’re close to the stairs back up?” George asked quietly as they relit their torch using the slowly burning blue flames of the sconces. “I don’t know, when we came in the sconces were normal fire- not soul flames,” Sap whispered back and motioned to the other side of the hallway. They hadn’t come across any doors while walking before, and now a dark oak door sat staring at them from a few feet away. “We have to check it, right?” Sap continued as he glanced back to check for anyone following them.

“We don’t _have_ to check it, but… we probably should… Dream was pretty badly injured so I wouldn’t be shocked if he was hiding out in one of these rooms…” George murmured and the two moved to stand in front of the door, “We’ll open it on three. Ready?” Sap nodded and held his soul torch up like a weapon as George got ready to open the door for Sapnap.

“3,”

“2,”

“1!”

George ripped open the door and Sapnap eagerly waited for anything to come running out of the room to attack them- yet after a few moments of silence, they relaxed and tentatively went in to inspect the room.

Surprisingly, the room was actually familiar to the two of them, there was a room almost exactly like it in the upstairs part of the mansion, except this one was much smaller. The only light in the room came from the aquarium that covered the back wall, the sea lanterns spilling watery light across the room as a school of fish swum anxiously around the tank. In the center of the tank there was an armor stand covered in dyed leather armor and it had been tipped to its side, with bubbles rising out of it every few minutes.

“What the hell is this?” Sapnap muttered as they got closer to the tank. Other than the armor stand, the aquarium looked perfectly normal, with coral decorating the bottom and all sorts of tropical fish hiding or swimming in the small reef,

“No clue, but Dream isn’t here and there’s no body or anything in here, so we might as well continue searching.” George grimaced at the sight of the tank and almost flinched when they noticed the armor stand and was tugging Sap away. “Okay, okay, stop trying to rip my arm off, Georgie, I’m leaving…” Sap complained and followed George out of the room and back down the hallway, though he had to admit he was somewhat suspicious of the way George immediately hated the room, “Are you.. doing okay?” Sap asked softly as they walked. George refused to look at him,

“All things considered? No, no I’m not. Dream is missing- probably dying alone- we’re trapped in a stupid basement that keeps changing up on us, and some psychopath is hunting us down. But sure, Sapnap, I’m doing great.” George snapped back and Sap was shocked at the icy undertone of his words, flinching from their impact. “No, I get that, it’s just… You seemed really shaken up by that room,” Sapnap chose his words carefully, “And I guess what I’m trying to say is… I’m here if you need to talk- or if you need someone to vent to- just… You know I’ll always be there for you.” He struggled to speak. George paused and then pulled Sapnap into a tight hug, “I’m just… We can’t lose him, Sapnap…” he mumbled into Sap’s shirt. Sap hesitated but hugged George back, “We won’t… Dream’s a strong guy, it’ll take more than a crossbow bolt to take him down,” he assured him softly as they stood hugging in the hallway. George took a deep breath and broke away,

“You’re right… I know you’re right-”

“It’s okay to be scared or worried, George. I am too,”

“I know… I just feel like I have to push through it in order to find this mastermind prick.” George sighed as they continued walking, still looking somewhat shaken up. “It’s okay to try to look like you aren’t fazed, but don’t forget to talk to us- that’s what best friends are for, right?” Sap gave him a crooked grin and the two laughed, “Don’t be such a sap, Sapnap,” George teased, and Sap smacked him in the arm, “You tell Dream I said that, and I’ll kill you myself.”

_ItsFundy was slain by wolves_

The two stilled as the message game through the chat, the timing feeling almost ironic as Sapnap finished his sentence. “Oh my gods…” George breathed in horror, “We’re dropping like flies, aren’t we?” he muttered while Sapnap continued to stare at the message.

“We have to find Dream.”

They fell silent as they ran through the hallways, the only sound being their feet as they echoed in the stone hallway. A mechanical spider carefully walked out of the shadows behind the two players and watched them as they ran, the controller of the spider hesitated after the conversation they overheard. These players were getting far too attached to each other, it would only make the inevitable hurt that much more…

* * *

Dream stumbled to Fundy’s body and sunk to his knees and with a shaky hand, he closed Fundy’s eyes. He could barely stand to look at the body let alone see the fear permanently frozen in those eyes. “I’m so sorry, Fundy… I wish I could have helped you- you didn’t deserve this…” He muttered and blinked away tears, trying his best to ignore all of the happy memories he had with the corpse now laying before him. He wiped at his eyes and gingerly took out his notebook; as painful as it was to examine the body, he would make sure Fundy’s death wasn’t in vain. He would find this mastermind even if it killed him.

“There are bruises and cuts on his arms and face, which explains the blood we found on the stairs. He probably tripped over the trip wire and fell down the stairs, it’s harder to fight off rabid animals if you’re already at a disadvantage,” he mumbled out loud and took a quick sketch of the body, noting, what he assumed was, the killing blow and other assorted injuries.

That’s when he noticed the object Fundy had been clutching in one hand. He gently pried the fingers open and revealed what looked to be a bloody, makeshift dagger from the cold palm. “When did he get this?” Dream frowned and after a few moments of inspection he slipped it into his inventory to show the others later. After a few more moments of staring at the body, he glanced back towards the stone stairwell and frowned, “Wait… if Fundy knew he was going to be attacked by animals- why didn’t he run back up the stairs and try the door?” He murmured and pulled himself up to a standing position and walked towards the stairwell. On his way, he laid a comforting hand on Bad’s shoulder, the older player had turned his back to the scene and was trying to wipe away tears.

The stairwell looked fairly normal, all things considered, and besides the occasional small splash of blood, it looked perfectly innocent. He took a few steps back and took a closer look at the archway around the stairwell- that’s when he saw it.

It was small, barely noticeable, but on the blocks right before the stairwell there looked to be small erosion marks into the stone, as if something scraped across it many times. Dream hadn’t done much work with pistons, but he knew the sign of a piston trap when he saw one- this had all been a carefully set up trap, and Fundy had walked straight into it.

_ItsFundy was slain by wolves_

As the message rolled through the chat, Dream looked back towards Fundy’s body and found it had disappeared, the only indicator it had been there were small trails of smoke. The blood had disappeared with the body and all that was left of Fundy was the black and gold hat that he always wore. Dream sighed and gently picked it up off the ground, tucking it safely into his inventory- yet another “memento” of their fallen friends for them to keep. Sometimes Dream wondered if the killer left them behind just to torture them, or if there was some reasoning behind it. If there was a meaning, Dream had yet to find it, and the mere thought of it frustrated him to no end.

He moved away from the body and went to investigate the rest of the room, along with the cages he assumed the animals were kept in. He was careful not to move past the iron doors that kept the cages shut, just in case the mastermind was watching them- he really didn’t feel like being trapped in one of those tiny cages. Checking them seemed to be somewhat useless as it only confirmed his suspicions that the animals were mistreated, but it didn’t give him any new clues.

He stiffened as he heard soft footsteps pattering behind him and jumped when he felt a hand grab onto his shoulder, but it was just Bad. “Dream, can we leave now? I really hate it down here…” Bad mumbled and Dream grabbed his hand to comfort him. “Yeah… I don’t think there’s anything else down here for us to find,” Dream gave him a shaky smile and lead the way back towards the staircase, trying to ignore the pain coming back into his arm as the regeneration potion finally wore off. As they made it halfway back across the room, however, a sound echoed through the room and froze the two in place.

The iron doors at the top of the staircase had slammed shut with their aggravating metallic ringing echoing through Dream’s ears as his heart stopped. “No- Not again-“ He stumbled over his words and dropped Bad’s hand, running up the stairs to see what he was afraid of. The iron doors had locked back in place, with absolutely no way for them to open them from their side of the door. “No, no, no, no!” He slammed his fists onto the doors and tried to suppress the panicked thoughts going through his head. Bad jogged up the stairs to join him and could already sense the anxiety coming off Dream in waves.

“Bad- please tell me you have a lever or a button or _something_ -“ Dream begged as Bad came up next to him, but Bad only shook his head. “Dream, it’s gonna be okay- we’re gonna make it out of here, okay?” Bad tried to calm Dream, placing his hands on Dream’s shoulders to force the speedrunner to look at him. “How is it gonna be okay?! We have no tools, no weapons, and no way to open the doors! We’re stuck down here!” Dream shrugged Bad off and began pacing in front of the doorway. Bad opened his mouth to speak, but Dream clearly wasn’t in the mood for questions, so Bad took it upon himself to check the messaging system.

_You whispered to Sapnap: Please tell me you can read this, Dream and I need help_

_Sapnap whispers to you: Bad?! Oh thank the gods, we’ve been trying to reach you all day! What are your coords??_

Sapnap typed the response quickly, worried that the messaging system would go back down at any second. He had stopped dead in the hallway when the message flashed across his screen, the first message he’s seen in the past three hours. George stumbled back at Sap’s sudden stop, looking at him with an annoyed curiosity when he realized what Sapnap was doing.

“Did you get a message…?” He breathed, trying not to get his hopes up and failing miserably. “Bad’s with Dream but he said they need help- I don’t know why.” Sap spoke quickly, bouncing on his heels as he waited for a response.

_Badboyhalo whispered to you: -171 64 -31._

_Badboyhalo whispered to you: We’re trapped._

_You whispered to Badboyhalo: On our way._

Sapnap sprung into action, practically dragging George behind him as he pulled up his own coordinate map. “Come on! They’re this way!” Sap blurted as they ran, keeping his chat open to watch for any updates from Bad. George struggled to keep up with Sapnap, trying to gauge their surroundings as they ran. That’s when it clicked.

George skidded to a stop and yanked Sapnap back. “George!! What are you doing?! We have to get to Dream and Bad!” Sapnap immediately complained, the frustration clear on his face and he whipped around to face George. “Sap, listen- ever since we found the hallways with the soul torches, the layout of the mansion hasn’t changed up on us. I think it’s a sign, like a puzzle or something. If we follow the soul torches it’ll lead us out!” George explained quickly, it was a weird theory, but it held weight. “But Bad and Dream are this way-“ Sapnap looked conflicted, he agreed with George’s assessment but his coordinates told him that his friends were dead ahead.

“Yes, but what if it’s a trap? Our coordinates haven’t been working all day and now they suddenly work? I don’t trust it. I think the mastermind is trying to lead us _away_ from Dream and Bad, not towards them.” George pulled Sapnap back towards the soul torches, “I think this is a test, if we head this way we’ll find the others- I have this gut feeling,” Sapnap hesitated, feeling conflicted as he looked back and forth between the soul torch hallway and the hallway that supposedly led to Dream and Bad. He squeezed his eyes shut and fought the urge to keep running towards his friends, “Fine!” He blurted and sighed, “I trust you, and if you seriously think this is the right path… then I’ll go.” He locked eyes with George, who nodded slightly. “I know this is a sign. We’re gonna find them, Sap.”

They continued running in silence, skidding around corners as they followed the soul torches’ lead, the basement finally wasn’t changing up on them. No matter where they ran or where they looked, they would always see the path they came wasn’t disappearing; George’s theory rang true. In fact- it seemed to be dead on accurate, as they came to a crossroads that was _very_ familiar. They skidded to a stop again as they reached the basement landing, staring up at the staircase leading up out of the basement, and they hesitated. They glanced at each other wordlessly, confirming that they were having the same thoughts. Eventually, it was George that pulled them back to reality.

“The soul torches continue down the hallway- we’ll make it back here. Dream and Bad have to be down there.” Sapnap shook himself back to reality and continued to run down the hallway with George, the soul torches briefly stopping as they came towards the end of the hallway, a pair of iron doors staring at them.

“Sapnap?! George?!” A voice called from behind the doors, a screen placed in the window of the door prevented them from seeing the person- but they would recognize that voice anywhere. “DREAM!” The two shouted in unison and ran down the hallway, easily spying the lever next to the door. George pushed the lever up and the doors sprung open, Dream practically falling through them in his haste to get out and crashed into Sapnap, who managed to catch the speedrunner before he fell. Bad came out almost immediately after, watching Dream with worried eyes, the crossbow wound starting to bleed again from the stress of the situation. Before he could say anything, George tackled the other two and they started hugging tightly.

“Don’t ever run from us again, you hear me?” Sap rasped as he held tightly onto Dream and George, feeling like if he didn’t hold onto them, they would disappear. “You scared the shit out of us, asshole.” George swore but clutched onto Dream’s hand as he was pulled into the group hug. “I know, I know, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Dream practically sobbed into them, the adrenaline from being trapped by the doors running out, causing the other two members of the Dream Team to keep him upright. As they held on to each other, Sap broke from the hug to drag Bad into their group hug.

For a moment, everything was okay again. They had each other, and that’s all they needed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 11/15 Alive...
> 
> Thanks for reading! I'm trying to slow down the updates a bit so I can focus on school work and my job, so I'm trying to make the chapters a bit longer as an apology. Hope you all enjoyed!!  
> (Don't forget to take care of yourselves! <3)


	17. In The Halls of the Usurper

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Techno figures out the answer to the maze that is the basement and the chat system finally starts working again.

Not long after Skeppy showed up, Wilbur ended up passing out on the floor next to Niki, his body probably trying to sleep off the redstone exposure. However, almost immediately after he fell asleep, Niki began to rouse from her concussion induced coma.

She groaned as began to wake up, squinting in the dim light of the cave as she pressed a palm to her head; her thoughts were sluggish, and she felt like she’d been hit by a sack of bricks- …wait-

She sat up with a start, eyes flying open as she remembered the mechanical spider that had attacked her, looking around wildly in case it was still there. Before she could get very far, though, a pair of strong hands stopped her, and she looked over to see Phil watching her with concerned eyes. “Hey, take it easy, you’re alright…” His voice was soft and helped her control her breathing, “The spider is dead, but you hit your head really hard,” as the adrenaline faded, her head started to pound again.

“What… what happened?” She mumbled, rubbing her eyes as the world spun around her. “The mastermind set loose some sort of mechanical spider and we think it attacked when you were distracted. Luckily, Wil heard it attack you and we were able to stop the thing, but it knocked you out and gave you a concussion,” Phil explained as he encouraged her to drink water from a bottle he always kept in his inventory. “Is he okay-?” Niki asked as she noticed the curled-up figure covered in Techno’s red cloak a few feet away. Phil chucked softly, “He’s fine, just some minor wounds, the redstone powering the spider got into his cuts and he got all loopy, so we’re letting him sleep it off.” He helped her get to her feet and watched closely to make sure her coordination hadn’t gotten mixed up.

“Do you think you’ll be able to start moving?” He asked as she wobbled a bit, bracing herself on the wall behind them. “I might need some help, but I can do it. I’d rather push my limits and get out of here rather than staying,” She admitted, smiling faintly as she watched Techno gently rouse Wilbur, who was protesting greatly. In the end, Wilbur agreed to move if Techno gave him a piggyback ride, and with Phil helping Niki walk, that left Skeppy to lead the way, torch in hand.

There wasn’t much difference in the terrain as they walked. Other than the gently sloping tunnel upwards, all they saw was stone walls, torches, and the occasional door. Like all the other doors they had come across, these rooms were just like the others; either completely boring or they seemed like cryptic warnings. Since Wilbur and Niki were injured, that left Skeppy to investigate the rooms they came across, much to his chagrin.

“Do I have to?” Skeppy complained and shrunk in on himself as Phil and Techno looked at him expectantly. “It’s not like either of us can go in.” Techno deadpanned, Wilbur snoring over his shoulder. Niki gave an apologetic smile as she leaned on Phil, the world spinning around in her vision, “Sorry, Skeppy,”

Skeppy sighed and reluctantly went towards the spruce door, the lack of a window made him even more apprehensive, but Techno and Phil were keeping an eye on him, so he didn’t feel as worried as he was before. He took a deep breath and opened the door, squinting at the dark interior of the room, the only light source being a singular torch. It was another creepy armor stand room, almost exactly like the one he had come across when he was with Bad, except this one was much creepier than the garden scene he had come across before.

There were four armor stands in this room, two on one side of the room and two on the other side. The room had been decorated to look like a cave, maybe a tunnel, one that was much like the one he had just left. The two armor stands on the left of the room showed a grizzly scene, with one of the stands decorated like a zombie, and it was posed to look like it was attacking the armor stand beneath it. The other two armor stands looked to be watching the scene- one with a torch and the other with a diamond sword- letting the armor stand below the zombie get killed. It made Skeppy’s blood go cold and a shiver go down his spine, the scene making him almost go into shock. Were these armor stand rooms some warning, or some cruel joke-? Or just another way for the mastermind to play tricks on them…

He didn’t linger long in the room.

As he left the room, he slammed the door behind him and immediately continued walking down the tunnel. “Skeppy?” Phil frowned as the blue clad man continued walking, the other four quickly trying to catch up with him, “What was in the room?”

“You don’t want to know.”

Phil exchanged a concerned look with Techno, subconsciously deciding to keep a closer eye on the prankster because something was off, and it wasn’t a good thing. “You know that makes you sound even more suspicious, right?” Techno asked, ignoring the glare Phil sent his way, and Skeppy just sighed and stopped, “It was just one of those stupid armor stand rooms and it was ominous and stupid, happy?”

The three conscious members stared at him with blank eyes and Skeppy just frowned, “What? Why are you guys looking at me like that?” glancing back and forth between the three, “Have… have you guys not seen an armor stand room?” again, he got nothing but blank stares and he rolled his eyes, “Of course you haven’t… right before Bad and I got separated, we came across this weird room with armor stands, they were covered with leather armor in order to look like players but they had been shot with arrows, I thought it was some ominous warning but before I could talk to Bad about it, we got into our argument and got separated.” He explained quickly, trying not to linger on the thought. “So… what was in that room then?” Niki asked softly, worry creasing her brows. Skeppy ran a hand through his hair in annoyance, “If I tell you will you guys stop interrogating me?”

“Yes.”

“Yes,”

“Nah.”

Skeppy sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, “In that room there were four armor stands, two on the left and two on the right, one of them was dressed as a zombie and was quite obviously killing the armor stand below it. The other two stands were just standing there and watching even though one of them had a sword.” He mumbled, clearly not happy to be remembering the room. “What’s so bad about that? I mean it’s cryptic, sure, but other than that?” Techno droned, seemingly unimpressed. “I think it confirms that there’s two masterminds, not one…” Skeppy winced and the group fell into a stunned silence at the notion.

“I… hadn’t even thought about the idea of there being more than one…” Phil breathed, thinking back to the two murders they knew of, “But it does make some amount of sense…” he thought aloud as they started walking again. “How does it make any sense? Now we have to worry about two killers instead of one!” Niki protested, looking up at Phil. “Well if you think about it, it’s smart to have two. One goes around and sets up traps while the other distracts the rest of us. It’d be almost foolproof…”

Wilbur stilled from his position on Techno’s back, he had started to wake up a few minutes ago- just in time to hear the conversation about the potential masterminds. He couldn’t help but think back towards Tommy and Tubbo and the conversation he had overheard in the attic, the more he thought about it- the more suspicious he became.

They were young, and he couldn’t even fathom the two being serial killers but… well the evidence was stacking up against them and it wasn’t looking good… If he took what Phil said, then it made even more sense. When Tommy was “missing”, Tubbo was the one who got all of them riled up and worried, which could have given Tommy ample time to kill Punz before hiding in the attic for Tubbo to “find” him. Everyone trusted Tubbo and no one thought Tommy could ever do something like that- Hell, they left the two alone upstairs and while he had been down here, his group had been attacked by some madman with an axe and redstone spiders. Tommy’s always been eerily good at PvP and he’s only gotten better since befriending Dream and Techno, pushing Eret out a window and suffocating Punz would be easy for him. Combined with Tubbo’s ease of acting innocent and getting people to believe whatever he says… The two were practically unstoppable. Tommy killing while Tubbo distracted… The thought made his head hurt more than it already did.

Wilbur groaned and got the others’ attention, acting as if he was only then waking up, and Techno paused to let Wilbur down, “Morning, sleeping beauty, feeling any better?” Techno teased as Wilbur tested putting weight on his bad knee. “Oh fuck off, Techno,” Wilbur grumbled and limped heavily as they started to walk again, Techno putting an arm around him to keep Wil steady, “Other than my knee, I’ve got a massive headache…” he turned to Niki, “How’re you feeling?” She smiled softly and laughed at the exchange between the two, “I also have a pretty massive headache, but besides the concussion I’m not too bad- thanks to you,” she answered and threw a grateful look Wil’s way, who simply shrugged it off. “Anyone would have done it, I just got there first,” he admitted with an embarrassed chuckle. “Yeah, I mean you should have seen it, Niki, I had to save his ass from getting skewered by a metal spider.” Techno grinned and the group broke out into laughter- or four of them did, at least. Wilbur had always been good at “faking it til you make it”.

As the laughter died down, Techno took a closer look at their surroundings and as they passed a hallway, he paused. Wilbur gave him a curious look as he glanced back and forth between the two hallways, “What’s up, Techno?” He asked, confused at the sudden stop. “Have we seen any soul torches down here, yet?” Techno wondered aloud. Phil and Niki stopped a few paces away and Phil frowned, “No, not yet, why do you ask?”

“Well… this may be dumb, but the last time I was stuck in a maze was when Bad and Skeppy tested me and a bunch of other players to see who could beat their puzzle the fastest. One of those tests was a maze and if I remember correctly the answer was to follow a certain color that led to the exit…” He glanced back at the soul torch hallway, “What if the basement is just like that? We’ve seen glowstone, torches, and redstone lamps, but we haven’t seen soul torches. What if this is the way out?” He looked back towards the others and they all looked impressed and Skeppy looked somewhat shocked, “You mean you actually paid attention to the maze? I’m impressed, Technoblade,” He beamed, “I didn’t even think that this could just be some giant maze, I thought it just changed on us whenever!” Skeppy admitted. Techno rolled his eyes, “I’m not as dumb as I look, Skeppy.”

Phil thought through Techno’s line of thought and he shrugged, “It’s worth a try, right? We’ve got nothing else to lose,”

* * *

Tommy paced back and forth in the room he shared with Tubbo, watching his chat with anxiety as the sun set lower and lower in the sky. After a few laps, he threw his hands up in frustration, “You’re sure we have no weapons in here?!” he turned to Tubbo, who flinched slightly at the sudden outburst. Tubbo sighed, “For the fiftieth time, Tommy, no, we don’t have any weapons.” He got up from his seat on the bed and put his hands onto Tommy’s shoulders, “We’re just gonna have to wait to leave until the others come back.” He tried to calm him, but Tommy only shrugged him off and turned back to the door with a shout of frustration, trying in vain to open their door. “Why would they lock us in here?! It’s ridiculous!!” Tommy raged, slamming his hands against the door.

“To be fair, they probably knew you would get restless.” Tubbo snarked back, rolling his eyes at Tommy’s temper tantrum, “They know you better than you think.” Tommy resumed his pacing and crossed his arms, “Still! It’s bloody stupid that they would barricade the door. I mean- what if the mastermind came to attack us! We’d be completely at their mercy!” Tommy ranted and Tubbo couldn’t help but agree, “Yeah that is kinda dumb on their part. We really are sitting ducks…” He sighed and pulled his chat window back up for what felt like the millionth time, his hands tiredly composing yet another message to Phil and Wilbur.

_You whispered to Ph1LzA: Hello??_

_You whispered to WilburSoot: Are you alive??_

The messages felt useless, but Tubbo wouldn’t stop trying. No, he couldn’t. He couldn’t stop messaging them until he knew they were safe. He sat back down on the bed and tucked his knees in to his chest, resting his chin on them as he stared at the chat box, praying that he would get some sort of response. He just needed to know they were okay- they had been gone for so long…

_Ph1LzA whispers to you: Tubbo! Are you and Tommy okay?!_

Tubbo jolted up as the message rolled across his screen- he almost didn’t believe his eyes, “Tommy!! Tommy! Phil messaged me back!” he couldn’t help but blurt and Tommy’s eyes widened, “Are they okay?! What did he say!” Tommy flopped down next to Tubbo and tried to read the chat over his shoulder. “He asked if we were okay, hold on, I’ve gotta message him back!” Tubbo spoke quickly and jotted down the whisper back.

_You whispered to Ph1LzA: PHIL!! WERE OKAY WHAT ABOUT YOU AND THE OTHERS?! WE HAVNT HERD FROM YOU ALL AFTERNOON!!!_

Phil couldn’t help but laugh at the response back, based on the typos in the message, he knew it was Tubbo typing. “They’re okay!” He informed the others and noticed them all relax somewhat. “At least the mastermind hasn’t been able to mess with them.” Wilbur sighed as Phil typed a response back.

_You whispered to Tubbo_: We’re a bit banged up, but we’re all alive so there’s that. We’re trying to find our way out of the basement, it’s a bloody maze._

_You whispered to Tubbo_: Have you heard anything from Dream or Bad? We met up with Skeppy, but we don’t know how the others are doing._

“They’re okay! I think… Phil said they’re banged up, but at least they’re alive!” Tubbo announced to Tommy, who was hastily sending out messages to Dream. Tommy grimaced at the update, “Banged up?? That doesn’t sound good…” after he finished the message, he checked through his inventory, “I’ve got a few potions of healing but I’m not sure how much help they’ll be…” Tubbo glanced at him in shock, “You carry around potions of healing?” He asked softly. Tommy looked away, somewhat embarrassed, “Yeah! Y’know, just in case you or Wilbur get hurt…” he answered sheepishly and Tubbo couldn’t help but smile. People who said Tommy didn’t care about others couldn’t be more wrong…

_Tommyinnit whispered to you: DREAM_

_Tommyinnit whispered to you: ARE YOU OKAY?_

Dream looked down at his chat screen and was shocked to see the chat working again, he couldn’t answer since Sapnap and George were practically carrying him at this point, but he called it out to Bad so that he didn’t leave Tommy hanging. “Since he’s shouting, we have to assume he’s okay,” Sap joked and the three laughed lightly, “Also the staircase back upstairs shouldn’t be too much further, we passed it on our way to get you. Then you can actually get some fucking rest.” Dream laughed weakly in response, “I’m fineeee, I’ve had worse in the manhunts…”

“Dream, if it weren’t for us you would have collapsed by now.” George raised an eyebrow in amusement, “Do you even realize how much blood you’ve lost?”

“Eh, the bleedings all internal, that’s where it’s supposed to be.” The group dissolved into laughter and Dream couldn’t be more grateful that they were all there and unharmed. He really missed them, even being separated for an hour or so felt like forever.

_BadBoyHalo whispers to you: Dream, Sapnap, George, and I are all together. Dream got hurt pretty bad so he couldn’t respond, but we’ve got him so don’t worry._

“Bad says Dream got hurt badly,” Tommy reported as the message came through, frowning, “Did everyone get attacked down there?” He turned to Tubbo, who only shrugged. “I think so, it would make sense, Phil said the basement was a maze, so it was probably really easy for someone to get the drop on them,” He theorized, getting up off the bed to try the door again, “Oh, also! Phil said he thinks they’re close to the staircase, so hopefully everyone will get out soon. I think a lot of people are gonna need your health potions, though.” Tommy grimaced and typed a response back to Bad, “Yeah… hopefully I have enough…”

_Tommyinnit whispers to you: When you make it upstairs come to my room, I have some health pots I can get to Dream,_

_You whispered to Tommyinnit: Oh, thank goodness. I managed to help Dream a little with a regen potion, but he aggravated his wound again like the muffin he is, so the healing potion would be greatly appreciated!_

_You whispered to Tommyinnit: Thanks Tommy!! :3_

_Tommyinnit whispered to you: Never use that face again._

Bad laughed lightly at Tommy’s response and glanced back to check on Dream. He seemed to be doing mostly okay, he was pale from the blood loss, but being with Sapnap and George again made him a bit more careful with his wound. He sighed in relief and focused on the hallway in front of him, lighting up at the sight ahead, “Guys I think we made it!” he grinned, but his words trailed off as he noticed some shadows in the distance in front of him, his axe was in his hand in an instant and the boys quieted down at the movement.

Bad squinted at the shadows, slowly advancing to try and get a better look, ready to go down swinging for his boys if he had to. As he got closer though, the axe disappeared back into his inventory and the boys gasped, “Bad!” George called worriedly, but they could only watch as he went off running.

Skeppy jumped at the muffled shout down the hallway and suddenly noticed a form sprinting towards him, for a moment he panicked, but then he broke out into a relieved grin, holding out his arms as Bad tackled him in a hug, stumbling backwards from the impact.

“SkeppyI’msosorryIdidn’tmeanitI’msosorry!” Bad’s words tumbled out of his mouth like a waterfall and he held tightly onto Skeppy, the words getting lost in Skeppy’s shoulder. Skeppy held back and squeezed Bad tightly to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating, “No, it’s my fault! I shouldn’t have said those things, you were right, you’re always right!” he rambled and tried to stop the tears from running down his cheeks, but whenever Bad started crying he usually followed suit. The Dream Team soon caught up and their worry dissolved as they noticed the other group, and Bad and Skeppy’s reunion.

Dream took one look at the limping Wilbur and Niki and gave them a crooked grin, “You guys run into a psycho, too?” He joked darkly, trying to keep the mood up. The other group laughed, “Sort of, but a redstone spider did the majority of the damage,” Wilbur joked back but Dream could see the exhaustion on the Brit’s face, hell, he could feel that same exhaustion himself. “Not to cut off your guys’ reunion, Bad, but we really need to get back upstairs,” Sap called out and Bad jolted up, forgetting all about Dream’s injury in his relief to see Skeppy. “Right!! Gosh, I’m sorry Dream!”

“’S okay.”

Everyone laughed at Dream’s casual response and they couldn’t help but finally start letting their guards down, grateful to finally be escaping the hell hole that was the basement. They all helped each other up the stairs, every single one of them having changed since entering the mansion, some changed mentally, and others physically.

Despite Tommy and Tubbo’s very loud complaints at being locked into their room, they bounced between rooms and helped out wherever they could, the majority of Tommy’s health potions going to Dream and Wilbur.

Once back upstairs, Dream practically passed out in bed after accepting Tommy’s health potion, George offering to take the first watch while Sap got some well-deserved rest with Dream. Wilbur ended up passing out in Tommy and Tubbo’s bed and Tubbo was curled up not too far from him while Tommy kept watch, grateful the two were safe. Phil kept watch over Niki and Techno, insisting Niki stayed in their room so he could keep an eye on her concussion. She didn’t argue too much, and Techno slept on the couch to give her more privacy.

They had finally escaped the basement. A task they didn’t think was possible, but they actually did it. In their relief, they almost forgot that one, or even two, of their friends were possibly a killer. They were just too grateful to be back together…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 11/15 Alive.
> 
> Thanks for reading!! The group finally made it out of the basement and the worst is behind them! ...or is it?


	18. Enter Sandman

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group takes a well earned rest after surviving the dangers of the basement, but dreams aren't as comforting as they hoped....

**!! TRIGGER WARNING !!**

**This chapter contains descriptions of death, violence, and gore. Please read with caution.**

* * *

“Phillll I’m fineeee…”

“Just because you say you’re fine, doesn’t mean that you are, Wilbur.”

A few minutes after midnight, Phil came into Tommy and Tubbo’s room to check on Wilbur’s knee to make sure it wasn’t infected or getting worse. Luckily, the healing potions had done their job and the wound would most likely only cause a scar; if Tommy hadn’t had those health potions, it was possible that Wilbur would never have walked properly again. In this instance, Tommy was glad his paranoia made him carry those around.

“I won’t bother you again until morning, now you-“ Phil turned to look at Tommy, who was sitting cross-legged on the couch, “-get some sleep. I know you would convince Wilbur to let you stay up all night, but you’ve done enough all-nighters.” He said sternly, crossing his arms. “But, Phil-!” Tommy tried to argue, but the older player cut him off, “Sleep! Now!” Tommy crossed his arms, but grumbled agreements and Wilbur promised Phil that he’d make sure Tommy slept. With that, Phil let them be, leaving to check on Dream’s shoulder.

“Alright, gremlin, you heard the big man-“

“Hey, Wilbur?”

“Yeah?”

“Can I… talk to you, first?”

Wilbur’s eyes softened, he could see the conflict in Tommy’s eyes, so he sat down next to Tommy on the couch and gave the kid his full attention, “Always. What’s up?” Tommy shifted around uncomfortably, it wasn’t exactly easy to talk about this kind of stuff. “I… earlier, when I was telling the others why I hid, I…” Tommy sighed, “Well, I lied.” Wilbur furrowed his brows, as if he didn’t know, “Why would you lie about that?” He asked and Tommy ran a hand through his hair, glancing over at Tubbo, who seemed to be sleeping peacefully on the bed. “Well…” He sighed, “I guess I’ll start at the beginning… Eret’s death wasn’t a purposeful one- it was just an accident. We were messing around upstairs and I was chasing him, and he stopped all of a sudden at the window and I couldn’t stop in time and shoved him really hard. The next thing I knew he was tumbling out the window and he-“ Tommy’s voice cracked and he looked away from Wilbur in shame, “-and he died… It was just an accident- I didn’t mean to!” Wilbur pulled him into a hug and let Tommy cry it out, it couldn’t have been easy to keep that all locked up, so he ignored the truth for a moment and focused on comforting the fourth Sleepy Boy.

After a few minutes, Tommy sniffled as he pulled away, “I panicked after seeing that and I ran up to the attic- I just needed somewhere to think, y’know? Away from everyone else… I didn’t think anyone would worry enough to come looking for me,” He gave a sad chuckle,

“Shoulda known that Tubbo would freak out…” Wilbur put his hands on Tommy’s shoulders, “Tommy, we will always come looking for you. No matter what you’ve done or who you’ve become, you will always have us.” He said firmly, and Tommy’s eyes widened as if before Wilbur said it, he didn’t believe it, “But Tommy, why did you lie?”

“…We were just… scared… When I told Tubbo, both of us thought no one would believe me, I mean you guys vote me out first in Among Us all the time, even if I haven’t done anything… Tubbo didn’t want to lose me, and _I_ didn’t want to lose you guys… I figured if I told the truth, you guys would label me as a monster… I just… Gods, I really don’t want to lose you guys…”

Wilbur couldn’t hide the hurt in his eyes, “Tommy… I would never, _ever_ , call you a monster. Even if you killed someone on purpose, I would still hear you out. I-… I’m so sorry you felt like you had to lie to me and the others…” He murmured, feeling suddenly guilty for ever even considering Tommy as a killer- …maybe Tommy was right for not telling him… “But, why did Tubbo lie to us too?” Tommy rubbed the back of neck nervously,

“Same reason as me, really. We were both scared that everyone would either kick me out or… well, something worse… Tubbo came up with the lie and I went along with it. You know how good he is at lying in Among Us, we knew he’d come up with the best excuse,” He laughed softly, trying to not focus on the darker parts of that statement.

“Man… I-… I don’t know what to-…” Wilbur sighed and reached for the right words, “Thank you for telling me, Tommy, for trusting me.” He pulled Tommy in for one final hug, squeezing hard to make sure the message got across, “Now go get some sleep, Gremlin, or Phil will have my head.” He ruffled Tommy’s hair and pushed him towards the bed. Tommy flashed him a grateful smile and then curled up in the bed, close enough to feel the safety of his best friend’s presence. Sleep came easily to him, still exhausted from his all-nighter,

He didn’t even notice the troubled look on Tubbo’s face.

* * *

The minute Tubbo finally fell asleep, he knew he was in a nightmare, and he knew that he wouldn’t be able to make himself wake up from it- he tried.

It was dark, so dark that he couldn’t see anything around him except a small light switch on the other side of the room, the lever illuminated just enough for him to find it. He tried to walk over, but the ground was extremely uneven and sticky, almost as if he was stepping in honey. He tripped a few times over the rocky terrain, his feet constantly finding pits or causing the floor to give way beneath him. The sticky stuff got all over his hands and arms, and as annoying as it was- he was more annoyed at the fact that he kept falling. There was no pattern or path to the ground, just endless unseeable mounds that tripped him every chance it got.

After ten minutes of fumbling around the room and falling, he had finally made it to the lever, and he flicked it on gratefully- hoping it would illuminate an exit, or at least make it so he could see where he was going. He wished he had kept the lights off.

As the lights clicked on, one by one, he wanted to scream. The terrain he had been traversing was not an uneven ground- _it was dead bodies._

The bodies had been killed in different ways, their eyes open wide in fear and empty as glass. The sticky liquid he had thought was honey? It was _blood_ , an endless amount of crimson blood. In his horror, he clasped is hands to his mouth to prevent himself from screaming but realized his mistake in an instant. The blood was all over his face now, he desperately tried to wipe it away with his sleeves, but the blood was everywhere. On his clothes- on his skin- even in his hair.

As he wiped at his face, he noticed the bodies directly in front of him and he fell to his knees, tears immediately welling in his eyes, “Tommy?” he croaked, his best friend’s white shirt stained an ugly crimson and brown as it laid face down in the pool of blood. The blue eyes were endlessly open, wide in terror, and it shook him to his core. Right next to Tommy’s body was Wilbur’s, only Wilbur was lying on his back, blood pouring from a stomach wound and a slashed neck. It made Tubbo sick to his stomach, but the scene only got worse and worse. Holding hands with Wilbur was a lifeless Niki, not too far away was Phil, Techno, Fundy, George, Dream, Sapnap… Anyone he considered a friend, _family_ , was in the endless pile of bodies, each more scared and gorier than the last. Tears ran down his face as sobs wracked his body, “Tommy, please wake up, don’t leave me alone…” he gripped on to Tommy’s shirt as he cried. He didn’t even notice the person approaching.

“Why are you crying? You’re the one that did this to us.”

Tubbo looked up, and through his tears he could make out the lifeless corpse of Eret, head still bloody from where it slammed into the gravel. Eret’s eyes had always been those soulless white eyes, but Tubbo suddenly understood the difference between lifeless and soulless. “N-No! Why would I ever do this?! Why would I ever want this?!” He cried out, Eret’s body stepped closer and closer, easily navigating the sea of bodies.

“Why would you do this? Did you hate me that much?” A new voice sprang up, it was Phil, who had risen to join Eret, his empty green eyes still judging Tubbo from beyond the grave. “No!! I love you guys!”

“Then why did you kill us?” Now it was Wilbur. One by one his friends and family stood and surrounded him, covered in gore and staring with those empty glass eyes. “I didn’t kill you!! I-I wouldn’t! Couldn’t!! This is all just some nightmare!!” He squinted his eyes shut, covering his ears to block out their mournful cries.

“I thought we were friends?” Tubbo’s heart shattered as one voice cut through the noise. Tommy was crouched in front of him, staring deep into Tubbo’s soul, “You said you wouldn’t hurt me…”

Tubbo blinked and the scene was gone, no bodies, no blood, no voices. He looked back down at his hands and the blood was still there. He heard footsteps approaching from behind him. _Not again._ He couldn’t handle any more of his friends blaming him for something he didn’t do.

This one _wasn’t_ a friend though. He blinked and the world changed once more, this time he was in a battlefield, the grass was either stained with spilled blood or it was on fire. The bodies were back, all of them struck down by the blade in his hand, some of them were familiar and others were stranger. It disgusted him either way.

The footsteps behind him stopped and the person who definitely was _not_ a friend rested a hand on his shoulder, a cocky grin on their face as Tubbo slowly turned met those glowing white eyes, his stomach dropped.

“ _Boo.”_

Tubbo woke up screaming, hands shaking as he swore he could still see the blood. He didn’t know when Wilbur had showed up, those brown eyes not lifeless, just full of concern as he desperately tried to get Tubbo’s attention.

“It’s okay, you’re okay, you’re safe. I won’t let anything happen to you... I promise.”

* * *

“Your arm seems to be healing well, you might be sore for a week or so, but you shouldn’t have any long-lasting effects,”

Dream winced as Phil poured the last of the healing potion onto his wound, but he did have to admit that it was feeling much better. “You should still have your arm in a sling for a few more days, but you’ll live.” Phil finished redressing the wound and Dream eased his way back into bed, already feeling sleep pull at him once more.

George and Sapnap stood watching nearby, they trusted Phil to take care of Dream, but they couldn’t ignore the fact that someone in the house was murdering everyone. They couldn’t be too careful. “We’re lucky to have someone like you here to help, Phil. Most of us aren’t accustomed to living with our injuries.” Sap said quietly, trying not to wake Dream, and Phil gave a soft smile. “When you play hardcore you can’t rely on respawn, so learning how to dress wounds was one of the most important skills I learned,” He shrugged slightly, “I just wish I didn’t have to use these skills in an actual life or death scenario.” He put the empty bottle and bandages back into his inventory and yawned.

“You should get some rest, Phil, gods know you deserve it.” George held the door open for Phil and the two conscious members of the Dream Team waved as Phil left. As George locked the door, Sapnap yawned and stretched, trying to fight the exhaustion that weighed him down. “Sap, you should get some rest too- you took first watch, I can take second watch.” George said as he watched Sap try to wipe the sleep off of his face. “I’m fine, George…” Sap muttered, literally swaying back and forth on his feet and trying to wave George off. George crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow, “Oh really? ‘Cause you look like you’re going to fall over.” Sap yawned again and George couldn’t help but laugh, “Just go to sleep, Sap, you’ll get nothing accomplished being this tired.” He rolled his eyes and pushed Sap over to the bed, ignoring the Texan’s cries of protest. The minute Sap hit the bed, though, he lost the fight as his body immediately sank into the bed and began dragging him to sleep. Dream shifted beside him and instinctively tucked in closer, mumbling in his sleep. George tiled his head in amusement and tried to make out what Dream was saying, Sap was already asleep and couldn’t listen, so it was only George listening,

“Please…. _stop_ …”

* * *

Sleep came easily after Phil’s checkup, but the peace of slumber did not follow him like it did the last time. No, he knew he wasn’t dreaming when he found himself within the ancient sandstone temple, standing in front of a larger than life hourglass. He knew exactly where he was, and he didn’t like it. His breath hitched in his throat as he found himself in the middle of those crumbling ruins from MCC, he always hated this minigame and he hated the way it plagued his nightmares.

“ _Oh Dream_ ~”

Dream whirled around, turning his back to the hourglass, and found Sapnap and George staring at him- decked in iron armor and holding diamond axes and crossbows. Their eyes were what threw him off, though, as he swore they were glowing white under the dim firelight of the ruins. Sapnap grinned and flipped the axe in his hand, looking back down at Dream with soulless eyes, “ _Ready to die, Dream_?”

Dream stumbled backwards, a familiar pain shooting through his arm, and upon looking down he noticed the crossbow bolt once again struck all the way through his shoulder. Then when he looked back up, Sap was charging him with unnatural speeds and Dream barely dodged in time. Sapnap’s axe slammed into the hourglass, shattering it and sending sand spilling out like a tidal wave, forcing Dream one way and his two hunters another way. He wasted no time in sprinting down the hallway behind him, trying his best to ignore the enraged shouts of Sapnap as he ran.

He needed to find a weapon, if he found _something_ to defend himself with- then the hunters wouldn’t win. Not this time.

Dream ran through what felt like endless halls of monsters and traps. When he wasn’t desperately trying to escape his Hunters, he was coming face to face with mobs or brick walls. He couldn’t tell if this was worse than the basement below the manor or if he was just imagining things. More than once, he would round a corner and come face to face with another player, only to stumble backwards and find that player suspiciously missing. It was driving him insane.

Sometimes the player looked like George, but other times they looked like Eret, but they never gave off the same energy as George and Eret. Instead, every time he met those soulless eyes, even if it was just for a millisecond, he had this cold and empty feeling run through his bones- as if he’d never be happy again.

As he jumped precariously over a lava pit, he saw the player again, but this time they were walking away from him, into a room up ahead. He cursed in annoyance and sped through the remainder of the parkour, ignoring the pain in his arm and the shadows that hugged the edges of his vision, determined to confront whoever the hell this player was. The chase went on for several rooms- every time he thought he was close to catching them, they would just materialize farther down the hallway than they should have been.

“Dammit! Get back here!” He shouted as the player laughed and turned another corner, once again leading him across a parkour bridge, this one looming over the void. It was barely a challenge. He raced around the corner and came face to face with an angry creeper, scrambling backwards in a panic before the creeper exploded. The blast threw him backwards and he slammed hard into the sandstone wall behind them, his head spinning as it hit the stone with a crack.

His vision went in and out and the crossbow bolt had shoved itself farther into his shoulder, his arm gaining that horrible numbness all over again. As his head swum, he could hear footsteps approaching and he tried desperately to fight against the sluggish actions of his brain, but he could barely fight back as the blurry player came closer and closer. They looked familiar, but not in a comforting way. They crouched in front of him and through his blurring vision he could see them smirk and tilt their head at him.

“ _You know what to do…”_

Dream rubbed at his eyes and as his vision cleared, the player was gone, and a diamond sword was sunk into the ground where they had been standing. Suddenly, his mind felt a lot clearer, as if suddenly everything made sense again. The pain in his arm subsided and he grabbed on tightly to the diamond sword, wrenching it out of the ground and twirling it in his hands, grinning at the way it seemed to fit perfectly in his grasp. _The hunters would become the hunted._ No! What was he talking about? Those were his friends- they were just misguided… that’s all… _but they still tried to kill him. Maybe it_ was _time for some payback…_

His head felt like it was on fire as the two voices dueled for control inside his head, it was like the demon and angel on his shoulders had figured out how to pilot him and were fighting for dominance. The worst part was that he didn’t know which side would win…

“There you are!”

Dream froze as Sapnap rounded the corner, eyes ecstatic as he finally found his prey and immediately launched into battle. Axe met sword with a loud clang and Dream shoved Sapnap off of him with a kick to the chest, Sapnap flew way farther back then he should have and his axe was wrenched from his hand

“What-? That’s not-?” Sapnap scrambled to his feet, the excited look in his eyes gone as fear replaced it. Dream stalked towards Sap with a devilish grin stretched across his face, “ _Come here, Sapnap~”_ He teased and Sapnap backed away, afraid to turn his back on Dream as the speedrunner held both weapons in his hands.

“D-Dream, this isn’t you- please just snap out of it!” Sapnap begged as his back hit the wall, staring hopelessly into the soulless eyes of his best friend. Dream thrust the sword forward without hesitation, the sword impaling through Sapnap’s stomach as if the action was as simple as breathing. Sapnap choked back a sob of pain, clutching at his stomach as scarlet blossomed across his white shirt like ink across parchment- a killing blow. Dream pulled the sword out of Sap’s torso with ease, flicking the blood off of the blade and looking down with amusement as Sapnap slid down the wall in shock.

“D-Dream…?” Blood trickled from the corner of Sapnap’s mouth as his life slowly faded away. He reached a bloody hand out as a final plea for help, the scarlet liquid smearing across Dream’s hoodie, simply watching the pathetic efforts. As he watched Sapnap bleed to death below him, he almost felt a flicker of emotion in the back of his mind. _One down, one to go._

Going through the temple was different this time around, he wasn’t scared or nervous- he knew exactly where he was and exactly where he needed to go. The mobs paid him no mind as he walked past, for monsters didn’t care to kill other monsters. He knew George well enough; he had run through this map many a time with George not too far behind, _he should have known George was nothing but a traitor._

George wasn’t too far away from the blue vault, stuck in front of a quick parkour route- the only obstacle that blocked the path to the enormous vault. _It was perfect._ George had never been as good at Parkour as Dream and now George was stuck, a scene reminiscent of a mouse stuck in a maze. The devilish grin spread across his face once more, “ _Oh George~”_

George twirled around to face his opponent, axe at the ready, but his face paled at the amount of blood on Dream’s sweatshirt, and he knew the blood wasn’t Dream’s. The axe dipped in his hand, “Dream? Dream, what’s going on? Where’s Sapnap?” He tried to take a step back, but he stumbled slightly as the lava behind him hissed in anticipation.

“ _He got what he deserved._ ” Dream growled and started charging towards George, axe in one hand and sword in the other. George was surprisingly quick and dodged each and every one of Dream’s attacks with the sword, feinting away from the lava and attempting to hold his ground. “What do you mean?! Dream, it’s just a game!” He pleaded as Dream charged him again, his axe fending off the swipes of the sword. Eventually he decided enough was enough and slammed his axe hard on Dream’s grip. The sword flew from Dream’s hand and slid into the lava, sizzling as the liquid ate away at the precious ore. Dream didn’t take long to reply to this attack. He ignored the pain in his hand and slammed the axe down hard into George’s chest- his ribs cracking and splintering from the blow.

George gasped for breath as his lungs were punctured and collapsing, almost immediately coughing up blood as he drowned in his own gore. He clutched desperately at Dream’s hoodie, trying to find something solid to hold onto as death greeted him faster than expected. Dream watched with morbid fascination as George breathed his final breaths, the task laboring and futile. He almost smiled as he watched the light leave George’s eyes. He had done it- _he won._ So why did he feel so cold?

He wandered away from George’s corpse in a daze, wandering the temple’s maze of hallways with no real purpose. The only thing that snapped him out of it is when his shoe sunk into a puddle of water. He cursed slightly in annoyance and looked down with a glare, but the face that reflected back at him was not his own. It had the same face structure, the same blonde hair and freckles, but Dream had green eyes… His reflection had _glowing, white eyes._

_“I hope you’re satisfied, little speedrunner… Isn’t this always what you wanted?”_ The reflection spoke with a voice that was not his own and he stumbled back at the sound. _Why did he recognize that voice?_ He suddenly snapped to his senses, he looked down at the blood on his hands and cried out in horror, he had just _murdered_ his best friends over _nothing_. Over a stupid manhunt game. _What had he done?_

Dream woke up to George shaking him, his face wet as tears streaked down his cheeks in an endless waterfall. George’s eyes were concerned, and his mouth moved but Dream heard no sound, just ringing in his ears as the memory of what he had done in the nightmare etched into his mind. He pulled George into a hug and couldn’t stop crying apologies into George’s chest, _that wasn’t him_ , he didn’t mean to, and he was so, so sorry. George held him through the sobs, confused but trying his best to reassure Dream that whatever he did- it was okay, he was safe and so was Sapnap, Dream wouldn’t lose them.

It took about ten minutes for Dream to calm down, Sapnap had woken up in the middle of it and Dream immediately latched onto him too, crying that he was sorry, and he would never have done that. George quietly explained to Sap that Dream had had a really bad nightmare, so Sapnap just held Dream though the sobs with soft reassurance.

The Dream Team had each other, and that was enough. They were safe, and they would make it through this nightmare together- no matter what it took.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise!! HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!  
> Halloween is my absolute favorite holiday so I had to include a chapter of our boys going through some spooky nightmares :D
> 
> Hopefully it wasn't too bad!  
> Don't forget to take care of yourself and be safe this Halloween if you celebrate it! <3


	19. Shot Through the Heart, and You're to Blame

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> George and Sapnap finally convince Dream to get some fresh air and to open up to them.

**!!!!! TRIGGER WARNING: This chapter contains mentions of blood, death, descriptions of violence, descriptions of injury, and just general sad vibes. If you are sensitive to any of these things please be careful while reading this chapter.**

* * *

It had been a few days since the attacks in the basement, and surprisingly the mastermind was being oddly silent. There were no messages, no deaths, just… radio silence. Which normally would have been a nice rest to recover from the various injuries the group had received in the basement, but Dream couldn’t help but feel that something terrible was going to happen- and that the mastermind was planning something big.

As such, he spent most of his time in his room, scribbling down notes and theories into his notebook. Anything he had noticed while in the basement, clues from his fight, and sketches of any rooms he came across had been jotted down with obsessive detail. Sketching the basement where he found Fundy’s body was… not easy, to say the least. If it weren’t for Sapnap, George, and Bad, he probably would have forgotten to eat, as they managed to drag him out of his room every now and then- though usually it just meant that he would scribble his notes in the library instead of the Dream Team room.

“Dream, this is getting ridiculous.” George crossed his arms as he watched the masked man sketch yet another one of the mansion’s rooms. He almost regretted describing that aquarium room to Dream- but he had hoped that by confronting the memory of the room, it would cause his nightmares about it to cease. Dream glanced up from his notebook, but his gaze didn’t fall on George- instead he could only look at the fireplace’s mantle.

Since all of the player deaths resulted in a “memento” of the fallen player being dropped, they had decided it would be a good idea to have an area dedicated to the memory of their friends. Plus, it took power away from the Mastermind, since their tormentor had used the fireplace and the portrait above it to terrorize them, they decided to put the mementos up there. Dream hated that there were so many of them already, four was too many people to lose and after seeing Fundy’s dead body… well, he wasn’t sure how much more he could handle…

Sapnap nudged Dream from his position next to the speedrunner, careful not to touch Dream’s healing shoulder, his own eyes watching Dream with concern. “George is right, staying cooped inside isn’t good for any of us, especially you.” Sap managed to tear Dream’s attention away from the mementos, from the black and gold cap that lied next to Punz’s gold chain, “Maybe the fresh air will help you think, or at least process everything.”

Dream glanced between the two of them helplessly, “I… I dunno, guys… the faster I work this out- the faster we can escape. Plus, I hate seeing that stupid world border- it just makes me feel even more trapped than before.” He sighed, lowering his notebook with hesitation. Sapnap glanced towards George, who gave a small nod, and before he could question it- Sapnap snatched the notebook right out of his hands. “Hey-! Sapnap, stop-!” He reached out to grab it back, but Sapnap tossed it easily to George, who quickly tucked it into his inventory.

“You can have that back _after_ you get some fresh air. This mansion isn’t good for you, it’s messing with your head.” George gave a sly grin, “Besides, Sap and I know the perfect spot for you to relax- you can barely even see the border from there.” He reached a hand out and gave Dream a request that couldn’t be refused. Dream heaved yet another sigh, but hesitantly took George’s hand and was yanked to his feet- his body protesting at the sudden movement and he groaned, causing the other two to burst out laughing.

“Come on, Old Man, the walk will be good for you,” Sapnap teased and gave Dream’s back a pat, before leading him and Dream out the door of the library and through the foyer. The last time Dream had left the mansion was when he got taken to Eret’s body- the beginning of their current chaos. He still shuddered at the memory, but he was thankful that George and Sapnap didn’t mind that he wore the mask, it made him feel a little bit safer, “Where did you find this place you’re taking me, anyways?” He asked as the breeze ruffled through his hair.

“Near the place we first spawned in the server, the beach is hidden behind the tree line, and with the trees being so tall it’s easier to ignore the border. The gravel crunched softly beneath their feet as they walked, conversation light and comforting. Dream would never admit it, but the fresh air did make a difference; he never realized how stuffy the mansion’s air was until the clean forest air filled his lungs.

The “perfect spot” that George had been talking about really was just as amazing as he described it. Once they broke the tree line, Dream was greeted with a gorgeous meadow that led up to the beach, the waves crashing softly onto the sand with its soft melodic sound. The mist cooled the air and the smell of the sea breeze subconsciously made him relax even more as he stopped to take in the view. He gently moved the mask off to the side of his face to take a deep breath, George and Sapnap smiling softly at the sight.

Ever since the nightmare incident, after leaving the basement, Dream refused to tell them anything about what he saw, unless it could help the group towards finding the mastermind- and even then, he was very stingy on the information. They knew he had gone through much more than they had and he went through all of his _alone_ and injured.

Dream suddenly grinned and ran into the field, laughing loudly as he fell back into the field of flowers, the tall grass softening his blow and enveloping him in a warm embrace. “Gods, I never realized how much I missed the SMP until now…” He breathed happily as Sap and George came to flop down beside him, the three basking in the dim sunlight that shone through the cloud cover, “Remember when we first made it? Before all the buildings and everything went up? This reminds me of that…” he closed his eyes and just simply embraced the comforting ambience of the meadow.

“That feels like ages ago! Gods, so much has happened since then…” George started laughing, “Now there’s been, what, fifteen wars?” the other two joined him in his laughter. “Probably more, if we’re being honest.” Sapnap giggled, having flashbacks to the wars he started out of pure boredom, not to mention that L’Manberg was easy to pick on. Their conversation continued with bouts of laughter and teasing as Sapnap and George tried to ease open the doors of conversation, hoping to get Dream to open up. In the end though, all of them slowly opened up about their feelings- really only comfortable to do so around each other.

“…do you think Karl misses me?” Sap’s voice was soft, full of unspoken emotions, watching the clouds roll by with a tight throat. He subconsciously twisted the gilded ring on his finger, he hadn’t taken it off since the proposal and now it just felt like a horrible weight on his heart- a reminder to be careful. George turned to look at him, concern written all over his face, “Of course he does!! You two hung out like every day! I mean you two were supposed to get married for the Gods’ sakes!” George protested, “I’m sure Karl is ripping his hair out searching for you! Same for the others on the SMP too! I mean, a bunch of players don’t just vanish from a server like we have.” George returned his gaze to the sky, pushing his sunglasses up onto his forehead, “I’m sure Karl misses you like nobody’s business.”

Sapnap smiled lightly at this comment, he never realized how much he missed his “fiancé” until right then. Karl had grown close with the three of them in the past few months, he had fit in with them so naturally that it was hard to believe there was a time that Karl _wasn’t_ on the server. As Sapnap and George talked, George snuck a glance over at Dream- who was staying eerily silent and thumbing the necklace he usually kept hidden under his shirt.

It was the ring Fundy gave him during their Treasure Planet video, and even though Dream knew it was a joke, he continued to wear the ring on a chain around his neck- it made him feel safe; As if he always had someone there to keep him company, even on Manhunts when it seemed like the whole world was against him.

George’s eyes softened, he gently pushed himself up into a seated position and his conversation with Sap trailed off. “You know you can talk to us, right?” George’s voice was gentle and careful, watching Dream with an anxious demeanor. Dream seemed to snap out of his trance and blinked hard, forcing himself back into reality, before meeting George’s mismatched eyes. “Y-Yeah I know…” he murmured, carefully slipping the necklace back under his shirt.

“Dream, please, bottling it up will get you nowhere… Just… try to talk about it?” Sapnap had sat up next to George and held a hand out to Dream, carefully pulling him into a seated position with them. Dream sighed, rubbing at his face, the images of Fundy’s corpse once again resurfacing in his mind- he saw it every time he closed his eyes.

“I’m sure Bad already told you… but we were the ones who found… who found Fundy… We found Jack too, but- well… compared to Fundy? Jack went out peacefully…” Dream mumbled as he sat up, self-consciously pulling the hood of his tattered sweatshirt over his messy hair, “He uh…” Dream took a shaky breath, “He was killed by a pack of feral animals-literally ripped to shreds…” George and Sapnap gasped softly. They had seen the death message just like everyone else, but they never really thought about how horrific of a death it was. Dream gulped, “I don’t… I don’t think he suffered much. His- His throat was… y’know… he just- he looked so scared and he had to face that all alone! There were so many mob drops too, there must have been dozens of animals driving him into the corner before attacking. Who- Who arranges that kind of cruel death?!” Dream stifled a sob, and immediately Sapnap had an arm around his shoulders, silently giving support as the rest of the Dream Team processed the death.

“A psychopath does… This mastermind is in for a world of pain when we find him! Killing is one thing, but that was torture!” George spat, eyes full of anger, “Whoever the hell this is, they aren’t actually our friend. A friend _wouldn’t_ do that.” Sapnap gave George a look as if to say _please shut up_ and returned his attention to the sniffling Dream. “I can’t imagine what you’re going through, dude… but… at least Fundy’s in a better place now, one where he doesn’t have to live in fear.” Sapnap murmured softly. He hadn’t interacted with Fundy a lot, the only significant times he had was on the SMP were literally to battle Fundy or take revenge for something Fundy had done to him. Despite all that, he still considered Fundy a good friend and respected the coder, especially after seeing how happy Fundy made Dream. It was… hard to believe he was gone. Sap took a quick glance back at his ring, he was incredibly grateful that Karl hadn’t gotten dragged into this “game”, and he was glad Karl didn’t know the situation his fiancé was currently in. Sap didn’t want to worry him.

“The best thing you can do now, is live for him. He wouldn’t want you to-“

_BANG!_

The three jerked back in shock, the loud sound echoing across the meadow and causing their heartrates to spike in fear. The origin of the sound was an old, dilapidated boat house on the edge of the tree line just before the world border, the shadows of the trees hiding it from their view when they first arrived. As they looked to the source of the sound, they noticed a shadowy figure run into the building, barely audible curses flowing out of the person’s mouth as they ducked inside. Just past the entrance to the boat house, something fell from the figure’s pocket that glinted in the sun before falling back into the shadows.

“You don’t think?”

“Couldn’t be… they would have seen us, right?”

The Dream Team’s voices were quiet as they watched the boat house, slowly standing as they assessed their situation. “They dropped something- what if it’s incriminating?” Dream stressed quietly, “This may be our chance to catch the mastermind…” He started walking towards the boat house, Sapnap pressed to his side, but George pulled them back. “What if that’s a trap? Sure, we were sitting in tall grass, but there’s no way they didn’t see us…” he hissed, not tearing his gaze away from the shack. “There’s only one entrance to the place, there’s three of us, and one of them.” Dream protested, sweeping an arm towards the tree line as if to illustrate his point.

“Don’t be an idiot, Dream! That’s clearly what they want us to do! They could trap us in there and light it on fire for all we know! There’s only eleven of us left alive, we have to be careful!” George flared, turning his attention to Sapnap, “Surly, you don’t agree with him, Sapnap.” The arsonist in question gave an embarrassed smile, “Sapnap!!”

“George, look,” Dream placed his hands on George’s shoulders, “We don’t have much time, but to play it safe, only I will go in- I’ll grab the evidence and run out while you and Sap stand outside to keep watch. If anything happens, you can run back to the house for help, okay?” he spoke quickly, moving his mask to look directly into George’s eyes. George hesitated, opening his mouth to protest, but bit back the response and sighed angrily, “Fine! But you better be quick about it.” He mumbled, the three already moving quickly towards the boat house. “They don’t call me a speedrunner for nothing, George.”

The boat house was even creepier up close. The wooden walls were warped and rotten, the paint falling off in long strips, revealing the splintered wood beneath it. Some of the glass pane windows were broken, as if someone had punched a hole through it every now and then and the shards glinted dangerously as they eyed the fresh meat approaching. The entrance to the house was covered in a disgusting green carpet and allowed them to immediately see inside, as there were no doors in the frame. Sapnap and George took positions on either side of the doorway, watching carefully as Dream took slow and silent steps into the building.

The evidence was farther in than Dream thought, a good six or eight blocks from the doorway, and he had to tread carefully to avoid the rotted planks of wood as to not fall through the floor. As he got closer, the object finally revealed itself in all of it’s boring glory. It was a flint and steel, suspiciously it looked like a brand-new flint and steel- no marks on it to indicate that it had even been used once. He bent down and picked it up, frowning, “Why has it-“

Dream was cut off by the telltale sound of pistons firinh and redstone activating, a loud slam echoing through the house as the trap activated. The flint and steel had been resting on a pressure plate, the minute Dream picked it up- the trap had been sprung. Behind him, a set of doors ripped through the carpet of the doorway, a pair of sticky pistons pushing the iron doors up into the previously empty doorframe- locking them into place. The flint and steel dropped from his hands and back onto the pressure plate, but it was too late, the trap was irreversible now.

“DREAM!!” Sapnap and George cried out simultaneously, rushing to the door and trying to pull it open. Dream ran towards the door as well, anxiously scanning the area for anything that could be used to open them. He slammed his hands against the door, a panicked look coming across his face as he stared through the small windows of the doors and at his friends- who looked equally as panicked. “GUYS?!” Dream desperately pushed and pulled at the doors, knowing they wouldn’t open but refusing to stop trying. George reacted quickly, “I’m getting help!” He spluttered before running back into the meadow, following their previously established, shabby plan.

Dream felt as if he saw the next scene in slow motion.

As George ran away from them, a masked figure dressed in all black stepped just out of the shadows of the tree line, a bow in their hands with the arrow glinting menacingly in the sunlight. They drew back the arrow with ease, and in George’s worry- he didn’t even notice the approaching danger, but Dream did.

“GEORGE!!” He cried out as the arrow was loosed from the bow. It sailed silently through the air as Dream felt like time had stopped. The arrow sank into George’s neck with ease, seeming more like a knife through butter than an arrow through the jugular. George shuddered to a stop, hands clawing at his throat as blood gurgled out of his mouth, the shocked gasp he had tried to utter turning into a strangled cry as he fell to his knees, desperately trying to save himself. The mastermind wasn’t done with him yet, however, and nocked a second arrow into the bow, this one easier to aim since George wasn’t moving as much. Sapnap whipped around to see why Dream was screaming, just in time to see the second arrow slam into George’s chest and send the Brit down into the dirt. Dream let out a strangled cry and pulled at the doors, his efforts in vain.

“GEORGE!!!” Sapnap took off running, heading to where he last saw George. “SAPNAP, NO!!!” Dream shouted helplessly, Sapnap hadn’t seen the mastermind within the shadows- he was too worried about George to notice. The mastermind was prepared though, and they easily loaded another arrow, picking this one special from their quiver, the tip of the arrow covered in blaze powder. The pulled the arrow back and tracked Sapnap’s path with their eyes, adjusting the arrow’s trajectory and then fired it.

The minute the arrow left the bow, it ignited with a burst of flame, Sapnap only barely noticed it out of the corner of his eye before it found it’s mark. It slammed straight into his chest, digging in deep between his ribs before the enchantment of the arrow did its job- the magical flames quickly spreading quickly across his body as he screamed in pain. Dream watched in horror, screaming alongside Sapnap from his trapped vantage point in the boathouse; Forced to watch as his best friends died slowly and painfully in front of his very eyes.

Sapnap collapsed a few blocks away from George, who was only just barely still hanging on to life. George weakly reached his hand out towards Sapnap, eyes desperately expressing his need for company in the end. The flames had started to die down- but they did their damage, and as Sapnap grasped tightly onto George’s hand- the light faded from his eyes and he was gone. Tears flowed freely down George’s cheeks and he let out one final strangled cry before finally losing the battle and joining Sapnap mere seconds later.

The mastermind hesitated in their departure, locking eyes with Dream, silently pointing at the speedrunner before dragging the finger across their neck. Dream knew what the mastermind meant, but he wasn’t thinking straight- how could he? He screamed obscenities at the figure, even long after the person disappeared into the trees he still shouted, pounding his fists on the doors until they bled- yet they still didn’t open.

That’s when he remembered the only thing left in his inventory: Fundy’s makeshift dagger. He fumbled with the thing, trying to find a good grip before slamming it into the gap between the two doors, prying the lock back until the doors sprung open. He barely remembered to put the knife back into his inventory before sprinting towards the two unmoving figures in the grass, laying not far from the spot they had comforted each other at. He fell to his knees once he reached their sides, his panicked eyes desperately searching for any signs of life- anything to prove that what he had just seen hadn’t happened. His body shook with sobs as he pulled at them, begging them to wake up- for this to be a prank,

“No… no, no, no, no, please!” He sobbed, ripping the mask off his face and throwing it a few blocks away into the grass, “Don’t do this to me! Don’t leave me alone!!” He practically shouted as he collapsed in the grass, unable to process the scene before him. With the remaining strength he had left, he pulled up the chat window, barely able to see the keyboard through his tears as he typed the quick message.

_You whispered to BadBoyHalo: Help._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 9/15 Alive...
> 
> ...so first of all I would like to wholeheartedly apologize for this chapter- especially if I made you cry.  
> This is kind of the turning point for this fic so things are gonna get a lot more emotional from here on out.  
> (and to the comment on the last chapter who hoped that Sap wouldn't die by fire- I'm so sorry, I swear I had this planned before you commented that)  
> ((Yes i did cry while writing this))


	20. Hell is Empty and all the Devils are Here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath.

**!!!! TRIGGER WARNING: This chapter deals with heavy topics of grief and is in general rather sad. Please be careful when reading.**

“I’m just saying- boarding up the basement would be the smartest thing to do.”

“What?! No! What if there are more rooms down there that we haven’t found!”

“Who cares?! It’s dangerous!”

Bad and Skeppy stood in front of the entrance to the basement, arguing back and forth as to why they should or shouldn’t board up the entrance. “Well, yeah, but what if the top part of the mansion turns just as deadly as the basement?? We’d need somewhere to run to!” Skeppy tried to argue, placing himself between Bad and the doorway. “What, and the basement would be so much better? The stupid place could split us up all over again! We don’t need more people dying to that maze!” Bad crossed his arms, “Plus the person who attacked Dream and Technoblade could still be down there! If we board it up, they can’t come up here without us hearing them.” He looked unmovable- as if nothing Skeppy could say would ever convince him. “But… what if we need the wood for… weapons or something!” Skeppy pleaded, already feeling the pull to the basement once more. He hated the feeling but hated the idea of boarding it up even more.

“Skeppy.”

“… yes?”

“Are you going to help me board it up, or are you going to stand there and complain.” Bad’s mind was made up, his face was unamused. Skeppy hesitated, searching Bad’s face for any sort of weakness, a chink in the armor, but sighed, “Yeah, yeah, I’ll help…” he snatched a few planks from Bad’s hands and started to place them over the entrance. Bad rested a hand on his shoulder and smiled slightly, “Thank you, Geppy.”

The task didn’t take long with the two of them working on it, and they completed it in a somewhat comfortable silence. Skeppy couldn’t help but feel like they were making a giant mistake by doing this, but if this eased Bad’s stress even a little bit- then he guessed it was worth it. He placed the last plank over the door and stepped back with a sigh, “Alright, we’re done.” Behind him, a plank dropped to the floor with a slight echo, Skeppy jumped at the sound and whipped around to glare at his best friend, “Bad!! What the… hell?”

Bad’s hand was pressed over his mouth in horror as he stared at his chat screen, he didn’t even seem to hear Skeppy’s voice. Within moments, he was running out of the doorway, panic written all over his face as he dashed into the hallway. “Bad?!” Skeppy dropped the remaining planks he had in his hand and ran after Bad as the shouting started.

“DREAM?!” Bad practically screeched as he ran towards the Dream Team’s room, slamming the door open and scanning the lifeless room quickly, his panic rising higher each minute he couldn’t find the trio. “DREAM!!” He continued to run down the hallway, checking any vacant rooms along the way, “DREAM, WHERE ARE YOU?!” He even checked the garden in the middle of the mansion, the clouds above them growing darker as the sky grew angrier- thunder rumbling in the distance.

“Bad!!” Skeppy struggled to keep up with his best friend, “Bad, what is going on?!” Bad continued to ignore him as the others started to poke their heads out of the rooms, a mix of concern and confusion on their faces as they watched Bad run around like a chicken with his head cut off. They opened their mouths to ask what was happening, but Bad was moving too fast for them to get any attention.

Bad burst into the library, the only other place that Dream had frequented in the nightmare that was the mansion. He continued yelling, desperately scanning all the nooks and crannies of the library, and even tried to crane his neck to see if anyone was on the second level, and to his surprise- there was. A pair of concerned blue eyes met his anxious white ones as Tommy peeked over the railing as he watched Bad and Skeppy run around.

“What’s going on with Dream?” Tommy questioned, voice high pitched in his worry and Bad paused his search to look at him.

“Have you seen him?!”

“What’s going on with-“

“HAVE. YOU. SEEN. HIM?!”

Tommy flinched back, eyes wide as he suddenly understood why Techno had an irrational fear of the man, “T-They talked about going to the beach! Something about getting Dream fresh air! Jesus, man!” As Tommy spoke, Bad was already on his way out the door- all he needed to hear was ‘beach’, and he was gone. “Thanks, Tommy!!” Skeppy managed to shout as he sprinted after Bad, with the others of the group burst into the room mere moments later.

“Tommy, what’s going on?!” Wilbur shouted up to Tommy as they came in, the younger man already descending the ladder to meet with the others. “I dunno! Badboyhalo came in shouting about Dream and then he ran when I told him!” Tommy answered, looking somewhat offended and embarrassed at being shouted at, “I don’t see what the big deal is! He went off with George and Sapnap! It’s not like he’s in any danger!” he crossed his arms and Phil pinched the bridge of his nose in irritation. “Tommy- there could be two masterminds, not just one.” Phil reminded and started to chase after Bad and Skeppy. Tommy paused as he thought about Phil’s theory, watching them run out, “Oh… OH!” As the realization hit, his face fell and eyes widened, Tubbo pulled his sleeve softly, as if to bring him back to reality, and the two ran after the others.

“DREAM!!” Bad’s feet pounded across the gravel, running faster than he’d ever gone and ignoring the tight pain in his chest as he skidded down the pathway, Skeppy keeping close behind him. He had stopped questioning Bad- he knew it was nothing good. “DREAM, WHERE ARE YOU?!” Bad’s voice was full of terror, desperately scanning the trees and clearings for that streak of identifiable lime green. The air was getting colder as they got closer and closer to the ocean and the thunder rumbling overhead drowned out the crash of the waves. As they came to the end of the pathway, rain started softly falling and Bad skidded to a stop as he took in the scene before him- a strangled cry leaving his mouth.

Not far away, in the center of the field, Dream was collapsed on his knees, shaking over two lifeless bodies- arrows sticking out of the forms. Dream weakly looked up at Bad, eyes glassy and numb, looking more broken than Bad had ever seen him; and as Bad processed what had happened, his heart felt as if it was broken into quarters, with two pieces of it gone forever. Bad let out a cry of pain and immediately dropped at Dream’s side, pulling the last survivor of the Dream Team into a tight hug, so that no one had to see Dream like this. Bad sobbed as he held the emotionally numb Dream- one letting all of his emotions pour out while the other sat there, clutching tightly to the other, in pure shock. Skeppy froze at the edge of the path, eyes darting across the scene as surprise filled his system, he opened his mouth to say something, _anything,_ but no words came. What do you say to people who have had their worlds demolished in a single moment?

Skeppy only looked away when he heard the gravel crunching behind him as the rest of the group ran down the pathway, curious as to why Bad had been so panicked. “Skeppy, what-?” Techno tried to speak, but Skeppy cut him off with just a look and a slight shake of his head. The others knew what he meant in an instant.

“Tommy, Tubbo, we should head back to the house…” Niki said softly, trying to steer the boys away from the scene before they could see it. “What? Why? What’s going on?” Tubbo’s eyebrows creased as he looked between all the adults of the group, and Tommy said nothing as dread formed a pit in his stomach. He subconsciously grabbed onto Tubbo’s hand as he watched Wilbur and Techno look to see what had happened with Phil not far behind them, “Who was it?” Tommy’s voice cracked as he spoke, looking directly at Wilbur, who refused to meet his eyes, “Tommy, I-“

“ _Who was it._ ”

Wilbur faltered slightly, but met finally met Tommy’s eyes raising his head enough for the others to see the tears streaking down his face, “George and Sapnap…” His voice was soft and defeated, and he took a few careful steps towards Tommy. The rain began to fall harder and the sky darkened as lightning flashed in the distance. The younger player’s eyes widened and he took a few steps back as his throat seized up and started shaking his head, “Tommy-“ Wilbur reached out to comfort him, but Tommy only shook him off took off running back towards the house, “Tommy!” Wilbur called, preparing to chase when Tubbo caught his attention. “I’ve got him,” Tubbo managed to blurt before immediately chasing after his best friend.

“…He needs time, Wil,” Phil said softly as he placed a comforting hand on Wil’s shoulder. Wilbur said nothing, he just turned suddenly and grabbed tightly on to Phil, trying in vain to hold back the wave of emotions that hit him. Phil just held him softly and let him break down, free of the unbreakable façade he would put on for the boys.

Niki and Techno hovered close by to give Wilbur more support, but after a few moments Techno broke away from their group to silently walk into the meadow towards Dream and Bad. He knew that Dream wouldn’t be able to assess the crime scene in this state, so he did his best to mentally note everything he saw in the little time they had left before the bodies disappeared.

He kneeled down quietly next to Dream and put a comforting hand on the speedrunner’s shoulder as he started to pull away from Bad. Techno knew Dream would never fully get over this, but… at least Techno could give him whatever support he could. As he gazed back towards Wilbur and Phil, he couldn’t imagine the pain that Dream was going through. If he lost Wilbur or Phil…? He wouldn’t know what to do with himself. That’s why when Dream looked at him with those blank eyes- he understood. Most would expect someone in Dream’s position to break down, to throw things, to scream at the sky- but in reality, when someone has their whole world ripped away from them, they just go…numb.

Techno said nothing, only met Dream’s eyes and gave a slight nod, as if to say that Techno was there for him, that he would be a pillar of support. The two never really spoke with words, silent looks were all they needed to understand each other- it was odd, to say the least… but it worked.

Bad helped Dream stand and as Techno went to help him, he spied something out of the corner of his eye. Falling out of George’s pocket, resting slightly in the pool of blood, was a notebook- _Dream’s_ notebook that he had been working on for days… ‘ _Why did George have it?’_ he thought with a frown but acted quickly and grabbed the book so it wouldn’t disappear, he wiped the blood off as best as he could and put it in his inventory. He would give it back to Dream later, once he had time to process his grief and could handle the sight of it.

As they stood Dream up, the infamous messages popped up on the screen, they had known it would be coming- but it hurt nonetheless.

_GeorgeNotFound was shot by Ḑ̴̞͊̈Ǟ̶̢̟͌t̶͍̖͗̑̇̈o̷͎̜̓͝Û̵͍͇͚̓̚ɵ̶̢͙̇o̸̙͈̐̽̋͝ď̴͔̈́͒̑Ṋ̷̼̦̥́͋€̸̙̰̂)̷̛̗̳̟̥͐̚͝_

_Sapnap was burnt to a crisp whilst fighting в̵͇̐̎̎ѿ̴̫̣̍͊͠ҕ̸̪̲̈̌ӝ̸̰̫̿ԕ̷͑̐̅͘͜Ѧ̶͖͂̓͘Ӯ̵̧̝͇̫̒̈́̕̕Ӵ̷̱̪͉̅҉̵̗̏̓͆ҹ̴̡͔͔̉̅Ј̵̞̩̓̓Љ̸͓̻̐͋_

Dream stumbled when the message came through, causing Bad and Techno to have to quickly catch him before he collapsed again. There was a flash of an emotion, of true despair, for a moment and then it was gone, and Dream looked back to where the bodies had been mere moments ago and all that was left of his best friends were a stained white bandana and a pair of white sunglasses, folded neatly next to each other in that horrible field of flowers. Dream stopped and stared at the items, and for a moment Techno was worried Dream had stopped breathing, but after a long moment Dream stumbled over to the mementos. He carefully picked them up- he clutched them close to his chest and squeezed his eyes shut, as if to block out the cruel world he’d been placed in. Bad wandered over slowly and gently guided Dream away from the meadow, starting to make the long and painful trip back to the house.

Skeppy moved to join Bad, but a flash of white caught his attention a few feet away in the tall grass. He frowned and moved over to investigate, quickly figuring out that it was Dream’s mask sitting in the dirt, only now there was a large crack going through it as if it had been slammed onto a rock. Skeppy brushed the dirt off it and looked closely at it before looking towards the crime scene and then towards the disappearing Dream and he couldn’t help but wonder, ‘ _Was it the physical mask that broke? Or was it the psychological one…’_

* * *

The trip back to the mansion was a somber one, a slow trip made in the pouring rain, with the heavy thought of their group being shrunk by two more. Eventually, everyone in the group aside from Dream, Bad, and Skeppy settled into the library, across the various couches that were spread across the large room.

Tommy and Tubbo sat together up on the on the second floor of the library, Tubbo having a supportive arm around Tommy as they sat, trying to shove down his own emotions to help Tommy cope. The sounds of the others down below definitely helped them calm somewhat, knowing that their family was safe and nearby eased the pain of the Dream Team’s loss more.

“…Tubbo?” Tommy sniffed, finally looking up and meeting his best friend’s eyes, “What if we’re next?” His voice was broken, and his eyes were red and puffy. Tubbo’s heart broke at the sight and shoved back the renewed wave of tears that threatened to overflow, “We won’t- we… We’re gonna make it out of here, Tommy.” Tubbo stumbled over his words, finding it difficult to even convince himself, “We have each other- and Wilbur and Phil, or Techno and Niki- we’re gonna be fine…” Tommy looked back towards the lower half of the library, pulling his knees into his chest. “Dream had George and Sapnap… now look at them…” Tommy sniffled bitterly before resting his head on his knees, “I don’t want to lose them… You all mean too much to me…”

“You’re not gonna lose us, Gremlin.” The two boys startled as a voice cut into their conversation and looked up to see Wilbur standing a few feet away, looking just as defeated as they felt, but relieved to find the two. The three stayed in silence for a few moments before Wilbur simply opened his arms and the two scrambled to their feet before practically tackling Wilbur in a group hug. The tears came out all over again as Wilbur held them close, giving them the support that they didn’t know they needed, “You two aren’t going to get hurt, not while I’m here.” Wilbur murmured as he held them close, “No one is going to harm you while all of us are here…” Wilbur looked down towards the others, Phil giving him a fond smile as he watched the three.

“Wilbur, what are we going to do? We’re dropping like flies…” Tubbo mumbled into Wilbur’s chest as he clutched on tightly to the other two. Wilbur’s eyes softened as he ruffled through Tubbo’s hair, “We survive, and we catch the bastard behind all of this.” He gently nudged Tubbo to look up at him, “You’re the best detective here, Tubbster, just open your third eye and we’ll find them real quick.” He teased and the three broke out into laughter, the memories of happier times easing the pressures of grief.

“Green is actin’ sus!” Techno called from the first floor of the library and soon the whole Sleepy Gang’s laughter was filling the empty void of the library. The three on the second floor moved down to join the others and the six of them gathered on two of the couches towards the corner of the first floor. They sat around joking and sharing happy memories that they all had with the deceased or funny moments that always made them smile, Tommy’s many iconic quotes in the quote book were brought up several times- never failing to make all of them smile or burst out laughing.

By the time their conversation was starting to come to a close, it was nearly one in the morning. Tommy and Tubbo had fallen asleep on either side of Wilbur and on the opposite couch Niki was snoring softly as she curled in the corner of the couch, Techno’s cloak laid across her like a blanket. It was only the original three sleepy boys still awake- comfortable in the others’ presence.

“Do you really think we’ll all make it out of here?” Techno’s voice was soft and vulnerable, his crown sitting on the table beside him as he opened up to his family. Phil’s eyes softened and he threw an arm around Techno, giving him a soft side hug, “Of course we will! Especially you, Techno! You’re the one with the famous ‘Technoblade never dies’ quote,” Phil reminded him, “You really think some cowardly mastermind who hides behind traps could fight you? Psh, not a chance!” Wilbur butted in with a small grin, “And Dadza Minecraft over here plays hardcore for _fun_! It’s not exactly gonna be easy for the mastermind to kill him.” The other two laughed softly at Wil’s nickname for Phil. “We’ll make it out of here, I guarantee.” Phil promised them softly and smiled at the yawn of a sleepy Technoblade next to him, “You two should get some sleep, I’ll watch over you all.” He chuckled slightly, pulling off his coat to drape it over Techno, who already seemed to be falling asleep. Wilbur yawned and rubbed at his eyes, “and how do we know you’re not the mastermind, Mr. Minecraft~” Wilbur teased as he cuddled up against his boys.

Phil rolled his eyes with a knowing smirk, “Oh please, Wilbur. You’ve seen me in Among Us. If I were the mastermind, you’d already be dead.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 9/15 Alive...
> 
> Ooof. This chapter hit hard, but it's important for the plot so I had to include it.  
> Sorry for the major sad tones! Unfortunately as the group whittles further and further down, it's not gonna get too much happier, but I'll try and keep the balance!!
> 
> If you ever have to stop reading for your mental health, I totally get it! No worries whatsoever, take care of yourself first!!  
> On a similar note, I have finals for the next two weeks so I'm not sure if I'll be able to get updates out on time. I'll try my best but I cant promise anything :,(
> 
> And as always, don't forget to take care of yourself!!! <3


	21. You Are My Sunshine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath.

Bad carefully led Dream to the washroom, helping him clean the blood off his hands and clothes while Skeppy kept watch outside. Bad tried to give Dream some sort of comfort, but he couldn’t think of anything to say that would help- at least, nothing that Dream would be willing to hear so soon after… the incident. So instead he just hummed “You are My Sunshine” softly to fill the silence, hoping that it brought some sort of comfort to the shell-shocked Dream, who still seemed emotionless with a thousand-yard stare.

To be honest, Skeppy didn’t trust Dream as far as he could throw him and kept a close ear out in the washroom, the door cracked open for him to get in quickly. Dream’s silent grief ploy wasn’t working on him- he’d seen how Dream acted in his manhunts and frankly he completely believed that Dream would be a serial killer. He couldn’t exactly tell Bad that, though, since Bad hadn’t reacted well the first time he suggested Dream was the mastermind…

Skeppy sighed and stared down at the cracked, white mask in his hands- the smiley face ominous and vaguely threatening- he’d have to talk to Technoblade later about his theory on Dream. Other than Bad, Techno was only other person he felt he could trust since he knew Techno would never even _think_ about killing all of his friends- that’s just how Techno was. He leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes, why did this whole thing have to be so complicated? Who among them was harboring a homicidal rage and _why?_

“Why does this have to be so complicated?!” He grumbled as he ran his hands through his hair in exasperation, half expecting clumps to fall out from how stressed he was. “Why does what have to be so complicated?” Skeppy screeched at this new voice, jumping nearly out of his skin as it seemed to come out of nowhere. “Oh! I’m so sorry! I thought you heard me coming!!” Niki apologized profusely, her concerned brown eyes meeting his as his panic started to cease.

“Jeez, Niki, where did you even come from?!” He let out a breath and tried to calm himself. “The living room? Where everyone else is?” She tilted her head, somewhat confused, “I wanted to see if there was anything I could do for Dream… I can’t imagine the pain he’s going through right now…” her gaze turned towards the washroom, smiling softly at the tune Bad was humming.

“I’m sure he’s fine,” Skeppy scoffed, leaning back against the wall again, resisting the urge to roll his eyes which of course only made her more concerned. “Skeppy, his best friends just died; I don’t think he’s ‘fine’…” She lowered her voice, careful to make sure it didn’t drift through the cracked door. “Yeah if he didn’t kill them himself…” He mumbled under his breath, but the hall was quiet enough for her to hear, and she took a step back. “What are you saying?” she asked softly, but he could hear the terror laced behind her words. “I’m just saying that self-reporting two bodies is kinda sus.” He said sarcastically, not wanting to admit out loud that two more people, two more _friends_ , had just permanently died.

Niki frowned at this, her brows furrowing in disappointment, “I can’t believe you,” She grumbled, “They were his best friends- the people he was closest with- why would you ever even consider him as a suspect. You should be ashamed of yourself,” She snapped and turned to march back down the hall to the living room, clearly angry from the confrontation.

‘ _Great. Yet another person to add to the watch list.’_ He thought as a yawn stretched over his face- he hadn’t been getting a lot of sleep. He rubbed at his face and tried to wake himself up some more to keep his senses sharp, but all he could hear was Bad’s somber humming as he switched the faucet off. He tried to keep the memories of the nightmare out of his head, but the images kept coming back no matter what he did.

He was trapped in that godsforsaken basement again, and every time he tried to keep Bad close, something would rip them apart and Bad would be nowhere to be seen. Skeppy would run through the endless corridors, not caring how much it switched up on him or took him into the mannequin rooms depicting what he could only assume were crime scenes, all he cared about was finding Bad and getting the hell out. Yet every time he tried to stick to the plan, he would feel the pull to the minecart room, and no matter how many times he tried to ignore it- he always wound up in that room.

Only this time it was different- the room didn’t only contain _just_ the minecart. Laying right in front of it was Bad’s cold and lifeless body with a note pinned to his chest with a crossbow bolt. The message changed every time he had the nightmare, cycling between the same sorts of phrases, “You’re running out of time.” “Work harder,” “Stop ignoring me.” Or the one he hated the most, “This happened because you failed him,”.

Every time he had the nightmare, he would wake up covered in sweat and barely holding back tears as he scrambled to make sure Bad was still alive and breathing. He hadn’t told Bad about the nightmares yet…

“You’re gonna have to tell him at some point, Skep,” He squeezed his eyes shut as his conversation with Techno on the roof a few days ago resurfaced in his mind. Techno was sympathetic to Skeppy’s refusal to open up, but Bad was his best friend and deserved to know how much stress Skeppy put on himself to keep Bad safe at all costs. “I don’t _have_ to do anything, Techno… he’s better off not knowing…” Skeppy muttered, refusing to meet Techno’s eyes, who scoffed at the comment. “Skeppy, he’s your best friend, you two are practically inseparable.” Techno rested a hand on Skeppy’s shoulder, forcing Skeppy to meet his eyes, “Bad would want to know that you’re worried, and he might be worried about you too- he’s just keeping himself distracted with the Dream Team.”

Skeppy sighed and put his face in his hands, groaning in frustration, “I knowwww, but still! I mean, would you tell Wilbur if you were having nightmares?!” Skeppy protested, only to find Techno squint at him in confusion, “Yes.” He deadpanned and Skeppy fell back onto his back and shouted his frustration, causing Techno to laugh, “He’s my best friend, why would I not tell him- oh wait you wouldn’t know that,” Techno teased, causing Skeppy to smack at him. “FINE! Fine. I’ll tell him tomorrow, it’s too late to tell him now…” Skeppy conceded as he got back up, staring at the sunset before turning back to Techno, “Thanks for… thanks for listening, Techno, I really appreciate it.” He mumbled and Techno ruffled a hand through his hair, “Anytime, dork. That’s what friends are for.” He reminded Skeppy and walked back towards the roof’s entrance, “Don’t stay up here for too long,”

Skeppy rubbed at his eyes again as the memory faded, he couldn’t exactly tell Bad about the nightmares now- he had lost two of his closest friends, his boys, in one afternoon. Skeppy didn’t want to add another problem to Bad’s mind after that. The door creaking open beside him as Bad led the numbed Dream back to their room- Bad didn’t want Dream to stay in the DT’s room for fear of his mental state declining further. Skeppy didn’t like it- but he wasn’t about to argue with Bad. He followed them silently down the hall, keeping an eye out for any potential threats, even though he was fairly certain the mastermind was in front of him.

Bad carefully led Dream into their room and then turned to Skeppy, “Would you mind staying out here, or going to hang out with the others?” Bad asked softly, glancing back at Dream, “I think it’d be better for him to have time away from anyone else…” Skeppy hesitated, watching Dream warily, “I-… okay… but if anything happens, message me.” He said sternly and Bad gave him a tight hug, “You’re not gonna lose me that easily, Geppy. I promise.” And with that he disappeared into the room, door closing behind him.

Skeppy sighed and leaned back against the wall, head in his hands as the events of the day really sunk in. As he remembered the once peaceful meadow now ruined forever in all of their minds, he felt that familiar pull once more to the basement and he groaned in frustration as he glared in the direction of the basement, “Leave me alone! I’m not going down there again!!” He growled. He didn’t know _why_ the basement called to him so much- he had never felt something like this before, never been pulled to something this much. “You are nothing but a death trap, I’m not going down there and I’m certainly not going down that obsidian tunnel!” He snapped and leaned his head back against the wall, trying to fight off the pull of sleep. He wasn’t successful.

* * *

“Dream?” Bad silently sat down next to him, “I-… I know that this is really hard… but I need you to tell me what happened…” Bad had no doubt that Dream wasn’t the mastermind, he _couldn’t_ be the mastermind, the events that occurred today assured him of that. “I can’t…” Dream mumbled softly, shaking his head. “I know, but their killer is still out there-“

“YOU THINK I DON’T KNOW THAT?!” Dream snapped and Bad flinched back as Dream rose to pace the room, practically in hysterics as the event truly solidified within his mind, “THEY ARE _GONE_ AND I CAN’T GET THEM BACK!” He yelled and the sunglasses crunched slightly in his hand as his fists balled, and he threw them across the room, a crack going through the dark glass as it slammed against the wall. He fell to his knees and raked his hands through his hair, “They’re _gone_ , dad…” he looked up with tearful eyes and Bad was kneeling in front of him in an instant, his own tears shining in the torchlight. “I know… and I’m so sorry you had to watch that- that’s something that no one should _ever_ see…” he pulled Dream’s hands away from his face and gave them a slight squeeze, “But if you tell me what happened, you’ll never have to think about it again, and I can tell the others so you don’t have to… do you understand?” he gently wiped the tears away from Dream’s eyes and the younger man sniffled but nodded. It was slow going, but Dream tried to tell Bad exactly what happened- even including the gory details, no matter how much it hurt to talk about. He knew deep down that the details were the only way for him to catch the bastard- and he couldn’t _wait_ to find out who was behind this. He didn’t care if he had known them for years, he would _make them pay for what they did._

* * *

“Hello, Ѱ̴̧̫͖͔̘̔̎̉̄́̈́̓͘Ў̷̛̺̀Ӿ̶̩͉͍̣̻̥̤̂̋͑̿̅̽̈̓͘ӳ̸̫̰͇̝̰̪͔̀̋̇̿͐́̌͋͝ҿ̵̫͕̹̯̖̈́̄͛͌. It’s been a while since we last talked.”

The mastermind gasped at the sudden voice, whipping around to face the one person they truly feared- but nothing was there. “I’ve appreciated your little games, the way you toy with your friends, _but you’re slow._ ” The voice came from behind them again- it felt like the voice was coming from everywhere and nowhere at the same time, “The deaths are wonderful, and I’ve appreciated how much fear you’ve caused in your little friend group,” the mastermind felt a breath hot against their ear, “but this has been drawn out for far too long,” they turned slowly to face the spearhead of the mansion, scared eyes meeting lifeless and cold eyes, “You don’t want me to get involved again, do you? I won’t fail a second time,” The mastermind’s eyes flicked down to their boss’s chest where Dream had stabbed him.

“P-please, I promise that I-I can do this…” the mastermind slowly turned to face them, “The basement was a mistake, I’ll make the rest of their deaths cleaner without leading them downstairs again- I promise. I convinced them to board it up to prevent it.” They explained quickly, backing up slowly as their boss stepped closer and closer until their back it the wall. The boss slammed his hand against the wall, causing the mastermind to flinch and cry out in fear, “PLEASE, I CAN DO THIS, I PROMISE!” they squeaked. Their boss grabbed them by the throat and forced them to look in his eyes, “You better, or I might not let the one you chose survive after all.” He hissed, but his grin reminded the mastermind of a viper right before it struck.

“I-I w…won’t fa-fail you...!” the mastermind choked out through his grasp as darkness formed at the edges of their vision, “I know you won’t, Ѱ̴̧̫͖͔̘̔̎̉̄́̈́̓͘Ў̷̛̺̀Ӿ̶̩͉͍̣̻̥̤̂̋͑̿̅̽̈̓͘ӳ̸̫̰͇̝̰̪͔̀̋̇̿͐́̌͋͝ҿ̵̫͕̹̯̖̈́̄͛͌, you can’t afford to.”

The grip tightened around their throat, and just as darkness overtook their vision, and they felt all the breath leave their lungs- they woke up with a start, clutching at their throat as they gasped for breath. It was just a nightmare. They were safe- for now at least- but the boss’s words echoed through their mind, they couldn’t afford to mess up again. They weren’t sure how long the boss would allow their chosen survivor to live- he could go back on their deal at any time.

They just… they just needed more time. Everything will turn out okay in the end, they just needed time…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 9/15 alive...
> 
> I'm back!! Finals were a pain in the butt, but they are over with!(Thank the gods)  
> Kind of a weird chapter but I just wanted to get a chapter out to you guys after two weeks of radio silence haha.  
> Hopefully I can get more consistent updates out to you guys since I'm on winter break until January :)
> 
> and don't forget to take care of yourselves! <3


	22. The Walking Dead

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Turns out that the mastermind isn't the only one having nightmares. They're creating nightmares as well.

**!!! TRIGGER WARNING: This episode contains descriptions of death, gore, and violence as well as a more detailed description of zombies. It also contains generally sad content. Please read carefully if you are sensitive to these things!**

About halfway through Phil’s watch over the boys, Tubbo started to shift and wake up next to Wilbur, blearily throwing off his blanket as he tried to remember where he was. Phil chuckled at this, “Y’alright there, mate?” he asked softly, looking at the others to see if they were starting to rouse as well. “Phil?” Tubbo croaked, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as he tried to focus on Phil. “Right here, Tubbo, you’re alright.” Phil gave a slight wave and Tubbo seemed to relax somewhat. “Oh, thank the gods…” Tubbo sighed and straightened up to stretch as he yawned, being careful to not wake Wilbur or Tommy, “What time is it?”

“Around five or six am, I think,” Phil glanced out the window to see the horizon starting to glow, “The sun should be coming up soon.” He turned his gaze back to Tubbo who seemed to be unnerved as he pulled his knees to his chest, “How are you doing?” he asked softly and Tubbo shocked out of his stupor. “Uh… well, I guess as well as I can with all of this going on…” Tubbo mumbled, rubbing at his eyes again, causing Phil to notice the dark circles under his eyes. “How much sleep have you been getting, mate?” he frowned and Tubbo shifted uncomfortably. “I’ve been _trying_ to sleep… I just keep getting these stupid nightmares…” He sighed, resting his chin on his knees. “Nightmares?” Phil shifted to give Tubbo his full attention, “Like what?”

“Well… it’s weird… I just… well I keep having this nightmare where I’m in this weird dark room and whenever I find the light switch I find out that the room is full of dead bodies and there’s blood all over my hands and-“ his voice cracked, “and the dead bodies are all my friends- you, Tommy, Wilbur, Techno- and you all become zombies and you say it’s all my fault and I just-“ he broke off into a silent sob, “I don’t know how to keep you guys safe…”

Phil immediately leaned forward and kneeled in front of Tubbo, taking his hands within his own, making sure Tubbo looked him in the eyes, “Tubbo, you are in no way responsible for the situation we’ve been put in- you shouldn’t worry about our safety, you need to worry about your own safety.” Phil said sternly, making sure the message hit home. This only caused more tears to fall down Tubbo’s cheeks, “But I can’t lose you guys- you’re all too important to me!” he looked over at the others, starting with Wilbur and Tommy, then Niki and Techno, and finally back to Phil, “You’re all my family. We already lost Fundy-“ The memory of Fundy’s death message went through his head and he cut himself off.

“Tubbo- Tubbo, hey-“ Phil placed a hand on Tubbo’s cheek, “You are _sixteen_ , you do not have to put the world on your shoulders. You weren’t responsible for Fundy’s death, right?” Tubbo sniffled but nodded, “Then you have no reason to feel that Fundy’s death was your fault.” He soothed Tubbo, who instinctively reached in for a hug, “We’re going to catch this bastard, Tubbo. We aren’t easily killed- it’ll take some serious effort from this so-called mastermind.” Phil held him close, as if trying to convince Tubbo he wasn’t going anywhere. Tubbo said nothing in return, simply clutching tight onto Phil.

“Wha’s goin’ on?” Niki yawned as she woke up, stretching slightly before noticing the two other players, “Is everything okay?” She immediately knelt down next to Phil, placing a comforting hand on Tubbo’s back as she looked between the two. “Just a nightmare,” Phil answered for Tubbo, “Everything is just getting to him, which is completely understandable,” Niki’s eyes softened, and she rubbed soothing circles into Tubbo’s back. “Oh Tubbo… I wish you would have told me sooner,” She murmured.

Tubbo finally pulled away from Phil with a sniffle, “Why?” She carefully led him away from the others to a different couch, so they could talk without bothering them. Phil gave Niki a tired smile and she sneakily motioned for him to get his own rest with the others, and he gratefully curled up on the couch next to Techno- looking absolutely exhausted. “Because I’ve been having nightmares too.” She said, settling into the couch before the fireplace and motioning for Tubbo to sit next to her. “You have?” Tubbo’s eyes were wide as he sat.

“Mmhmm! It’s hard to explain… and it sounds bad- but I promise I’m not the mastermind.” The only sounds in the library was the crackling of the fireplace and the soft snores of the sleeping Sleepy Gang, “It always starts out the same. I wake up outside of the mansion and see this person with white eyes watching me from a window- I don’t recognize them- but I chase after them anyways. We run through the halls of the manor- but it never looks the way it does in real life. The halls are always decrepit and covered in dried blood and soot, and as I chase this person from room to room, I find…” she hesitated and looked away from him, “I find you guys… but you’re all dead- killed in different and horrible ways, but that’s not even the worst part… after being forced to see all of you dead, the person I’m chasing finally stops to look at me and I finally recognize them…” She sighed and ran fingers through her hair. Tubbo’s eyes were wide and he placed a comforting hand on her knee, “Who are they?” he asked softly.

“Don’t take it the wrong way- I think it’s just my subconscious, but…”

“…But?”

Niki’s eyes returned to the four sleeping figures on the couch, her gaze lingering on one in particular, “…but it’s always Wilbur…” she mumbled, almost as if he didn’t believe it herself. Yet she had seen it every night since arriving at this horrible place- he would stand there with that insane look in his eyes as he laughed over the dead bodies of his family, saying he had done all of it for her. She watched him as he slept, the soft rise and fall of his chest as Tommy leaned into him, his arm resting protectively over Tommy’s shoulders even as they slept. She couldn’t see him doing anything that would hurt them- _especially_ not his family.

“Wilbur?! Surely not!” Tubbo whisper shouted, quickly turning to look at him as well, “There’s no way! …right?” He looked back to Niki for guidance, but she couldn’t meet his eyes. She just kept watching Wilbur sleep, the look on his face peaceful and serene. Everyone else she had talked to had been having nightmares, so why did he look so calm and secure in his sleep? _No. Wilbur saved me- he would’ve let the spider kill me if he was the Mastermind, but instead he saved me. It can’t be him. Not Wilbur._ She shook her head softly,

“It’s not Wilbur, we both know him. He wouldn’t do this, he’s as sane as you or I.” She reassured him softly, but she still couldn’t quite reassure herself. The negative thoughts kept clouding her thoughts, she couldn’t exactly blame herself, but she needed space- needed time to herself.

As she glanced back towards the sleeping boys, she noticed that Wil’s face had scrunched up and seemed to be slowly waking up. “I… think I’m going to go get some fresh air,” she stood up and took a deep breath. “I’ll go with you!” Tubbo stepped up, eyes still clouded with concern, but she quickly brushed him off, “No, it’s alright, I won’t go out of earshot,” she reassured, “You need to keep watch over them, anyways,” she turned his attention back to the others, and he softened. “You’re right… but, please,” he grabbed onto her hand, “Be safe, I can’t lose anyone else…” he pleaded, giving her hand a soft squeeze. She pulled him into a hug, “I promise to be safe, I’ll be back before you know I’m gone,” she promised, and quietly left the room as Wilbur started to sit up and rub the sleep from his eyes.

“Tubbo?” He mumbled, blearily looking around for the form that should have been sleeping next to him, feeling his fear rise before Tubbo quickly jogged over, “Right here, just woke up a bit earlier than you,” he assured with a smile as Wilbur tried to carefully pry the sleeping Tommy off of him. “Gods, you scared me for a second,” Wilbur breathed, taking a moment before rising off the couch to stretch, “How long have you been up?”

“Not long, I had another nightmare and Niki and Phil helped me through it,” Tubbo shrugged, but Wilbur’s eyebrows creased as he remembered the incident a few days ago, “The same one as before?” he rested a hand on Tubbo’s shoulder, but Tubbo looked away, “Kinda, but not the same as the… other one.”

“Well, I won’t press you on it, but you always know I’m here.” Wilbur yawned and turned to the nearby bookcases, “Have you and Tommy found anything worthwhile in this dusty old library? ‘Cause I am absolutely convinced that this mastermind has _no_ taste.” He grinned and knew exactly how make Tubbo laugh, after all- this old mansion needed some life, and he was tired of seeing his boys so sad.

* * *

Dawn came and went, and the members of the mansion slept peacefully for once, surrounded by the people they trusted most and while sleep wasn’t exactly comfortable- they knew they we safe… somewhat.

A few hours after sunrise, Philza Minecraft found himself rousing despite his exhaustion of the night. He didn’t _want_ to wake up, but something was setting off his alarm bells and he woke up in a cold sweat, _something was wrong_ , but he had no clue what it was. Doing a quick assessment of the room, he could see that his boys were okay. Wilbur and Tommy were giggling softly over books they found within the library. The only person he couldn’t see was Niki, which was concerning, since no one else was missing from their group meaning that she was alone. However, before he could ask the others where she was, a message flashed across his screen and snapped him out of his thoughts.

_"Please stand still! :) You will be teleported momentarily! :)"_

Phil stared at the message on the screen in confusion, still fending off the pull of his exhaustion, when it finally clicked as to what was happening, he tried to ruin the teleport, but it was faster than he expected and before he knew it- he found himself in a cave, or a tunnel? He wasn't quite sure.

He fell to his knees as the teleport finalized and the first thing he noticed was that his inventory had been completely wiped except for the first inventory slot. That slot held an iron sword, and when he summoned it to his hand he could see the name that was etched to the base of the blade: _Philza Hisobi Benihime._

"What the fu-?"

He stopped his sentence as another sound filled the cavern, a sound that he had always hated with a burning passion: the groaning of zombies. He turned slowly and came face to face with an uncountable hoard of zombies- he couldn't even see the other side of the cave from how dense the crowd was. He scrambled to his feet and held out the sword, he knew the sword wouldn't have enough durability to kill all of them, so he had to hope he could find a way out of this hell hole.

Phil turned quickly and began sprinting down the connected tunnel, the sword still held in one hand as he tried to navigate the maze of tunnels he had been dropped into. Some zombies were faster than the others and he periodically had to stop and kill them before they got the drop on him- there were even some baby zombies that he had to take on, causing him to hate the mastermind even more for bringing up Season Three. Luckily, he knew that zombies were incredibly dumb, and managed to slim the hoard down slightly by getting parts of it to go down other connected tunnels in their brainless confusion. He couldn't help but watch the durability and his saturation worriedly as it got lower and lower,

"Come on, where is it?!"

_Ph1LzA was teleported to [-780.26, 12, 1615] by_ _ш̵̨̛̦̞̮̘̼̀ӽ̸̢̦̳̯̹̂̈́͐̐̄͛͊̋̒̚Ў̸̧̀̂̒́̎̏̅̓̈́͐̚͘͝ ̸̰͎̠̜̓̓̈́̉͆̒̿Н̴̡̧̡̖̱̬̓̄̈́͆͒̐̌̈̆̅͒͘̚̚͘͜х̴͕̘͖̠̰͇̥̩̣͋ͅԌ̵͔̲͙̺̣̪͛o̵̪͈̫̭̥̦̖̥̻͍͖̭͍̲̒Ѕ̴̢̻͇̥̼̭̳̟̦̪̹̯̗̣̊͋̑͂̏̏́͘͘͘͜͝͠͝ԅ̷̠͎͙̝̜̍̿̉̈́̑̕Ҷ̷̧͍̺̖̭͉̽ѵ̵̨̟͇̱̲̱̲͇͈̊̓ҭ̴͙͛̀̾͗̇̎̎̾̕͜ ̸̢̨̧̛̹͇͇̰͙͉̼̻̤̺̣͑̄͌͗͗̎̿̌͝ӆ̶̨̣̬̹̼͚̘̤̠̝͕͈̜̣͈̒͆̍̍͛̊̔̓̂̚͝ԁ̸̦̠̼̪͖͔̺͙͎̮̠̲̜̹͒͋͐͛̈́̈̽ӷ̷̞͕͌̊̍̽̎̿̂̀͝ќ̷̛̛͉̗̗͔̙͒͋̾͒̓̒̔̈́̍̽͑̚͜͝ԛ̴̡̫͇̙͙̝̞̹̳͙̬͑͒̓̏̈ӂ̴̢͇̤̠̥͖̜̘͙̖̬̜͔̀͜Н̷̰̪͔̰̙͉̯͈̮͙̣͖̳̈_

"What?!" Wilbur jerked his head up from the book and turned to look at the couch where Phil had just been sleeping a minute ago, only to find that the message was correct- Phil _had_ been teleported by the mastermind, "No, no, no, no, no! Not him you bastard!" He growled and he quickly locked eyes with Tubbo. "You saw the message, right?" Tubbo asked quickly, eyes wide and panicked, Wil only nodded in return, "We have to go help him," Wilbur decided quickly, and there was no argument from Tubbo, only grim determination.

The two worked quickly, Wilbur grabbed Techno's sword, since he was still out cold, and Tubbo grabbed a torch from one of the nearby sconces. They ran, practically sprinted, down the hallway and to the back of the mansion, figuring the basement would be the easiest way to get down to Y=12 without the long and slow process of digging down. 

They were stopped short by the barricade. "No! What the hell is this?!" Wilbur shouted, hesitating in his actions to try and think of another way down to the basement. Tubbo, however, wasted no time in dropping his torch before using his bare hands to rip the planks away from the wall, turning to Wilbur desperately, "Help me!" he cried, and Wilbur snapped to action. It took a few precious minutes, but they managed to make a hole big enough for them to crawl through and took the steps two to three steps at a time.

“How are we going to get down to Y=12?! We’re nowhere near that level!” Tubbo cried, keeping an eye on the coordinate map. Wilbur stared directly down the center tunnel, the one he had gone down not that long ago with Phil, Techno, and Niki, “I think I know a way, but we’ll have to place our luck in the basement’s changes.” Wilbur breathed. Tubbo hesitated, he hadn’t gone down to the basement, but he heard the horror stories from the others, he didn’t think it would work- but they had no choice. They had to get to Phil.

“Get back, you bastards!” Phil growled as he fended off two more of the quicker zombies. The hoard was getting smaller, but not without its consequences. In his effort to keep two steps ahead of them, the quicker ones had gotten a few hits in on him and his hearts were getting too low for his comfort. _Benihime_ was also getting far too low in durability, he guessed that it only had twenty more hits before it broke completely. Plus, his saturation was only a few ticks off from him not being able to run anymore and he could feel the effort of fighting and running weighing on him just as much as the exhaustion. He’d pushed himself too far.

He felt one of the faster ones fall at his feel and snatch onto one of his heels, causing him to stumble horribly and fall to the ground. He recovered quickly but had to attack the zombies in the front of the hoard to prevent them from over taking his lead. The stale blood of the zombies had been splashed all over him and all he could smell was the rancid scent of decay and gore. He wasn’t a stranger to this kind of situation, his years in his Hardcore worlds had him experience many a similar situation. However, in those worlds he had the protection of armor and heavily enchanted weapons, as he held the cracked iron sword in his hand, he couldn’t help but wish he just had a diamond sword instead of the rusting mess in his hand.

He risked a glance behind him as he ran and couldn’t help but be relieved at the sight of an incredibly small hoard of zombies- maybe he wasn’t as bad at this kind of combat as he thought. That’s when his situation got even more dire.

“Where are we going?!” Tubbo panted as they sprinted down an endless tunnel, only catching glimpses of a door here and there as he desperately tried to keep pace with Wilbur’s long strides. “When we met up with Skeppy down here, he mentioned that there were tunnels that extended further below the basement. If we can get to those tunnels, we can get to Phil, I’m certain of it.” Wilbur explained quickly, trying to run as fast as he could.

They skidded to a halt at a fork in the road, so to speak, as one tunnel was ringed by obsidian and the other was ringed by emerald. “Surely it can’t be that obvious.” Wil panted as he looked at the emerald. “But why would the mastermind tease us now? He’s already lead us down a wild goose chase-“ Tubbo stopped mid-sentence and the two froze as an eerily familiar sound echoing from the Emerald tunnel. _Zombies._

Tubbo’s heart stopped at the sound and he went pale, remembering well how Phil’s last season of Hardcore ended, and he glanced over at Wilbur to see a blank look. “We’re wasting time just standing here, _come on!!”_ Tubbo grabbed Wil’s open hand and physically dragged him down the emerald tunnel.

They passed piles upon piles of rotten flesh, occasionally seeing flashes of iron in the piles, but they didn’t care. They only cared about one thing, and as the sounds of combat grew closer, Tubbo felt fear spike throughout his system. Wilbur only felt dread.

The shattering of a sword is not quiet- the sound of iron breaking on the remains of a zombie’s skull was a sound that they wouldn’t soon forget.

Phil stood heaving in the center of the dead end, zombie carcasses surrounding him as he held just the hilt of the broken _Benihime_. He was so, _so_ , tired. Seeing Tubbo and Wilbur should have filled him with relief, but seeing the raw horror etched onto their features- he knew what was going to happen. There was nothing he could do.

“So much for Season Four, eh boys?” He gave them a sad smile dropped the hilt with a final echoing sound. He felt the last zombie’s teeth rip into his throat mere moments later.

“ _NO!!!”_ Tubbo cried out in agony as he watched the man who he saw as a father figure have his throat ripped out by the horrible flesh-eating mob that Phil hated so much, ended his life. The zombie gave no care for Phil’s life, and his body dropped to the floor with a dull thud, glassy and lifeless eyes forever staring into nothing. Before the zombie could go in for seconds, Wilbur became a flash of movement, the sword flew across the room and slammed into the zombie’s torso, shattering its ribcage and pinning it to the wall in one clean hit. He stalked over to the flailing zombie with a quiet fury that Tubbo had never seen before. He wrenched the sword out with a sickening crunch, tears streaming down his face as he pretended not to notice that he had to step over his father’s corpse. He let out a scream of fury and anguish as the sword cut through the zombie’s throat, watching it choke on its own rancid blood before he slammed the sword through its eye socket and through to the brain before pinning its head to the cave wall. The zombie disappeared into a puff of smoke mere moments later, Wilbur fell to his knees. The sword clattered next to him as he stared blankly at the wall.

Tubbo fell next to Phil as he desperately searched for the pulse he knew wasn’t there- couldn’t be there. “Please, please don’t leave us,” He begged, but in his heart, he knew that Phil was already gone. He gently closed Phil’s eyes and carefully removed the striped bucket hat and said a final goodbye as he clutched the hat close.

“I know you said I couldn’t keep everyone safe… but why did you have to leave me too?”

_Ph1LzA was slain while trying to escape Zombies_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 8/15 alive...
> 
> SO. It turns out that killing off your comfort streamer in a fanfic is WAY harder than it looks.  
> A h a I'm in Spain without the S
> 
> Hopefully I didn't break you all too much ^^'  
> Don't forget to drink water and take your meds!  
> Take care of yourselves! <3


	23. Who Are You, Really?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bad helps Dream rest and after talking to Phil, shows Skeppy his favorite part of the mansion.

It had been a long night. Bad had spent most of the night comforting Dream whenever he woke up from nightmares, and as a result of this he hadn’t been able to get that much sleep. He nodded off a few times, but he always found himself surging awake at the thought of the mastermind taking Dream from him too. Then he would go check on Skeppy, who had nodded off in the hallway, and even though he left the door open so he could keep an eye on him, Bad still had to go walk over and check on him several times.

After checking on Skeppy for what felt like the fiftieth time, Bad fell back on the couch, his head in his hands as he desperately tried to get the memory of George and Sapnap’s dead bodies out of his head. He had seen it many a time in the constant nightmares that plagued his sleep, but seeing it in real life and having to accept the cruel reality of their deaths… well it wasn’t exactly easy to process. It must have been around three in the morning when Bad gave up on getting anymore sleep and seeing as Dream seemed to be sleeping peacefully for once, he figured he had enough time to put the newest mementos on the fireplace mantle.

He carefully picked up George’s glasses off the floor, careful to not make the broken lens and bent frames any worse, and then grabbed Sapnap’s bandana from where it had fallen out of Dream’s hands sometime in the night. He sucked in a breath as he held them close to his chest, swearing he could still hear their voices and their laughter- but knowing that it was a sound he’d never hear again. He gulped down his emotions and carefully left the room, not wanting to wake either of the sleeping players near him and walked silently down the hall with the mementos still clutched to his heart. He really hoped the Sleepy Gang in the library had fallen asleep by now, he really didn’t want to talk to Tommy or the others right now.

Bad carefully creaked the door to the library open, relieved to hear the soft snores of the people residing inside, and quietly snuck to the mantle. He didn’t realize his emotions would hit even harder as he finally came face to face with the other mementos. _Eret, Punz, Jack, and Fundy._ All friends who Bad would never see again along with two of his boys. He tucked George’s glasses carefully on one side of Punz’s necklace and Sapnap’s bandana on the other side. At least in the afterlife, they wouldn’t be lonely, and Punz could welcome them with open arms.

Bad wasn’t sure how long he stood there staring at the mementos as he thought of all the fond memories and listening to the fireplace crackle softly. So, when Phil’s voice broke the silence, it was safe to say he jumped.

“You doin’ alright, mate?” Phil’s voice was soft, careful not to wander too close to Bad in case he lashed out. Bad jumped back from the fire in shock, eyes wide in fright for a few moments before recognizing the voice and figure in front of him. He loosed a sigh, “Oh gosh, you scared me…” He smiled nervously, “I’m… I’m okay, but thanks for asking...” Phil frowned at this response and crossed his arms, “Really? Because from the looks of it, you aren’t doing so hot.” He motioned to the tear streaks that ran down Bad’s cheeks, “It’s okay to not be okay, Bad. No one expects that of you.” Phil put a gentle, yet reluctant, hand on Bad’s shoulder. Bad’s shoulders drooped at the other player’s words, almost as if a tension he didn’t realize he was holding had suddenly released. He slowly wiped the tears away with his sleeves and took a deep breath, “Oh-kay… you caught me… I’m-“ Bad tried his best to blink away the tears, “I’m not okay…” Phil gently led him to the couch in front of the fireplace, careful to pick a seat where he could still keep an eye on his boys and Niki, “Wanna talk about it? I promise I won’t judge,”

Bad fell back on the couch, head in his hands, “I just… I don’t know how much longer I can handle this, Phil…” he vented, “I have these nightmares, now George and Sapnap are gone… I don’t know what I’ll do if I lose Dream and Skeppy…” Phil placed a comforting hand on Bad’s back but frowned. “You’re having nightmares too?” he asked softly and Bad immediately looked up, “What, you mean I’m not the only one?” he asked, glancing back at the Sleepy Gang.

“Tubbo, Niki, and Tommy have told me about their nightmares, I think Wilbur might have had some too, but he refuses to tell me about it and I… have also had a few… I think it has something to do with this place…” Phil admitted, taking a long look around the room, “I feel like I should know this place, I have like déjà vu every time I walk around…” He sighed. Bad sniffed and wiped the tears from his eyes, “Dream has been having nightmares too, even before what happened yesterday, but it’s obviously gotten worse…”

“I’m not surprised, it’s not something easy to watch, Tommy told me that he sees Eret fall in his nightmares almost every night,” Phil’s eyes lingered on the mantle, looking carefully at the various mementos that were scattered across it. There were far too many of them, yet he feared that the number would only rise more before the mastermind was caught. Speaking of which… his eyes lingered back to the sleeping group. He knew that Techno had the reputation of killing people on hypixel and the SMP Earth, but he never had any malicious intent behind it- to him it was just a game that he was really good at. Phil really couldn’t see him putting something like this together, he would never want to permanently kill someone. Wilbur, while he was a little… eccentric on the Dream SMP and he was certainly was smart enough to put something like this together- he wouldn’t have made it hardcore. This wasn’t something Tommy and Tubbo would put together, not even them would do a prank like this, and with how traumatized Tommy was over Eret- it was highly unlikely those two were in on this. Niki _was_ very familiar with hardcore worlds, but she didn’t seem like the kind of person who would make a giant mansion just to kill her friends.

If Phil was being honest, he didn’t think anyone in the mansion would be capable of being the mastermind of this whole operation- he knew his friends. They couldn’t be capable of this- there had to be someone outside of the player group doing all this.

“I-… I should go check on him… If he wakes up and doesn’t see me, he might freak out…” Bad suddenly blurted, standing up from the couch and averting his gaze from the mantle, and began to walk out when Phil suddenly stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. “Seriously mate, if you ever need to talk to someone about all this, I’m here.” Phil said with a soft smile and Bad’s shoulders untensed for a moment, “Thank you, Phil. I might take you up on that, later.” Bad’s voice was tired, it was hard being the support system sometimes, so it was nice having someone else to turn to.

The mansion was quiet in the early morning, it was the only time that the mansion would feel somewhat… comforting. If it wasn’t a death trap, he might have liked to live here- or at least somewhere like it. As he glanced out one of the windows in the hallway, he could see the sun cresting over the horizon and turning the sky into a soft pink, he didn’t realize how late it was getting. He turned his gaze back toward the hallway and found Skeppy sleeping right where he left him. Bad suddenly realized how sore Skeppy would get from sleeping out here, he’d be much happier on the couch, or at least in the library with the Sleepy Gang. He knelt down and gently shook Skeppy’s shoulder, “Geppy?”

Skeppy jerked awake with a gasp, scrambling back away from Bad with wide eyes and instinctively kicked out, worried that he was about to die to the mastermind’s hands. Bad fell backwards, wincing from the sharp kick he had just taken to the face, whining as the pain hit him. Skeppy took a few deep breaths before realizing where he was, he wasn’t in the caves- he was awake and in the mansion.

“Bad? BAD!” He scrambled forwards and grabbed at Bad’s face, “Did I do this? I am _so_ sorry, Bad!” he gushed as he noticed Bad’s nose bleeding from the impact, “Let me help you clean up!” He pulled Bad to his feet, panicking somewhat about his reaction- but strangely enough- Bad was just laughing. “Skeppy, it’s okay! I should have realized that was a dumb way to wake you up, it’s my fault.” He wiped at his nose but Skeppy swatted his hand away, “Don’t stain your jacket, you muffin head! Let me help you clean up.” Skeppy dragged Bad down the hallway and towards the bathroom, ignoring the hesitation in Bad’s steps.

The bathroom was as quiet as the rest of the house, with the only sound being the trickling water of the faucet as Skeppy carefully cleaned the blood off Bad’s grey skin- the crimson standing out considerably. “You don’t have to do this Skeppy, I’m fine…” Bad whined as Skeppy held his chin and frowned at the bruise forming across the bridge of his best friend’s nose. “It’s not fine, Bad! I could have knocked you out or something!” Skeppy snapped, mostly mad at himself, but Bad just laughed again. “No offense, Skeppy, but I don’t think you could knock me out even if you tried,” he giggled and Skeppy frowned, tossing the towel he’d been using into the sink and pretended to storm out of the room, “Nooo, Geppyyyy!” Bad caught his hand, “How about I show you the room I found with Sap… the room I found the other day.”

Skeppy raised an eyebrow, “You found a new room?” he asked, somewhat concerned. “Well… _I_ didn’t find it, one of the boys did and they figured that I would like it,” Bad’s smile dropped somewhat, but he continued on, leading Skeppy down the hallway after making sure that Dream was safe, “I try not to go places without other people, y’know buddy system, but this room really helps calm me down and to think things through! I figured you might like it… cause of the nightmares.” He gave a soft squeeze to Skeppy’s hand, and Skeppy immediately sighed. “You know about those?” He asked, voice strained from his embarrassment, refusing to meet Bad’s eyes. “Well, I don’t know what they’re about, but I know you’ve been having them- I noticed whenever I was taking watch or whenever you woke up before me and looked stressed. It’s not exactly hard for me to come to the conclusion of you having nightmares,” Bad confided and turned to look at Skeppy, “You don’t have to tell me about it, but I’m here to listen if you want… Oh! We’re here!”

They stopped in front of a large dark oak door in one of the more secluded part of the mansion, with a small bronze fish emblem cluing Skeppy into what they were about to see- but even he was amazed at the sight. Despite the door’s simple appearance, the room was quite large on the interior, with the only light being the sea lanterns hidden within a _giant_ aquarium, causing watery reflections to coat all the walls. The entire back wall was the aquarium and looked to be decorated as a coral reef, with all sorts of colorful, tropical fish swimming around happily. The mere sight of the aquarium sent a smile across Bad’s face, immediately walking up to the glass to check in on his “fish friends”.

“Isn’t it amazing, Skeppy? I could spend _hours_ here just watching all the little fish swim about!” Bad squealed, “It feels like whenever I’m here, nothing could go wrong, you know what I mean?” Skeppy simply smiled at Bad’s excitement and slouched down into one of the seats in front of the glass. “It is nice, but I feel like it’s out of place in this murder mansion…” Skeppy shuddered slightly, he swore he felt a sudden cold breeze flow through the room, but Bad didn’t seem to notice.

_Ѩ̷̢̯͙̘͇̤̘̞̲̫͊͒̾̾̒̍̉с̷̪̪̙̃̐̈́̎̒̓͒̅͆͋̔ӓ̸̝̉͛̈̓͑̏̀̃͠͝͝͝ ̶̧̛̛̬͇̤̝̘̙̯͓̖̥͈͉̃͒̂̀̓͑͛̅͋̐͆͠ҕ̵̨̢̧̡̨̖̞̼̀͝һ̸̣̜̳̣̈́Ӎ̵̧̮̰̥̙̼̑̆̏͘͝ͅф̸̢̡̨̳̟̺̙̠̹̮̼̟͇̘͋͑̇͒͜͝ ̸̛̛͈̳̠̳͎̩͐̐̐̃́̅͐̚͜Ѣ̶̺̟̰̮̲̯̫̲͚͓̝̰̙̰̟͒̃̍̂Ҥ̷̛͙̳͍̗̜̈̓̊̑̈̏̍̓͘ӽ̴̯͕̯̞̩͉̟̺̳̙̰͓͈̾̇̓̄͆̚͜͜Ӟ̷̧͚̜͚͇̬̜̫̽̈́̑̔̚ь̷̡̪̦͚̫͖̥̥̮̣̋̏́̉͑̈́̒̿̕̚͜͠ͅѯ̶̜̺̤̘̪̞̱̩̓͒̉́̈́́̓ ̶̛̭̝̪̪̯͙̙͕͕͈͖̲Ҝ̴̡̢͈̲͔̱̼̠̝̄̔͐̑̚h̵̶̢̦̙̭̝̽̏҅̒̍͋О̵̨̡̰̪̫̳̣͈̻̯̓̊̒͗̈́̈̽̓̌̚͘͠ whispers to you: Go to the basement- trust me._

Skeppy suddenly sat up as the message showed up on the screen, he glanced up at Bad, but he was too busy looking at the fish to notice Skeppy’s reaction.

_You whispered to Ѩ̷̢̯͙̘͇̤̘̞̲̫͊͒̾̾̒̍̉с̷̪̪̙̃̐̈́̎̒̓͒̅͆͋̔ӓ̸̝̉͛̈̓͑̏̀̃͠͝͝͝ ̶̧̛̛̬͇̤̝̘̙̯͓̖̥͈͉̃͒̂̀̓͑͛̅͋̐͆͠ҕ̵̨̢̧̡̨̖̞̼̀͝һ̸̣̜̳̣̈́Ӎ̵̧̮̰̥̙̼̑̆̏͘͝ͅф̸̢̡̨̳̟̺̙̠̹̮̼̟͇̘͋͑̇͒͜͝ ̸̛̛͈̳̠̳͎̩͐̐̐̃́̅͐̚͜Ѣ̶̺̟̰̮̲̯̫̲͚͓̝̰̙̰̟͒̃̍̂Ҥ̷̛͙̳͍̗̜̈̓̊̑̈̏̍̓͘ӽ̴̯͕̯̞̩͉̟̺̳̙̰͓͈̾̇̓̄͆̚͜͜Ӟ̷̧͚̜͚͇̬̜̫̽̈́̑̔̚ь̷̡̪̦͚̫͖̥̥̮̣̋̏́̉͑̈́̒̿̕̚͜͠ͅѯ̶̜̺̤̘̪̞̱̩̓͒̉́̈́́̓ ̶̛̭̝̪̪̯͙̙͕͕͈͖̲Ҝ̴̡̢͈̲͔̱̼̠̝̄̔͐̑̚h̵̶̢̦̙̭̝̽̏҅̒̍͋О̵̨̡̰̪̫̳̣͈̻̯̓̊̒͗̈́̈̽̓̌̚͘͠ : Who are you?! Leave me alone!!!!!_

_Ѩ̷̢̯͙̘͇̤̘̞̲̫͊͒̾̾̒̍̉с̷̪̪̙̃̐̈́̎̒̓͒̅͆͋̔ӓ̸̝̉͛̈̓͑̏̀̃͠͝͝͝ ̶̧̛̛̬͇̤̝̘̙̯͓̖̥͈͉̃͒̂̀̓͑͛̅͋̐͆͠ҕ̵̨̢̧̡̨̖̞̼̀͝һ̸̣̜̳̣̈́Ӎ̵̧̮̰̥̙̼̑̆̏͘͝ͅф̸̢̡̨̳̟̺̙̠̹̮̼̟͇̘͋͑̇͒͜͝ ̸̛̛͈̳̠̳͎̩͐̐̐̃́̅͐̚͜Ѣ̶̺̟̰̮̲̯̫̲͚͓̝̰̙̰̟͒̃̍̂Ҥ̷̛͙̳͍̗̜̈̓̊̑̈̏̍̓͘ӽ̴̯͕̯̞̩͉̟̺̳̙̰͓͈̾̇̓̄͆̚͜͜Ӟ̷̧͚̜͚͇̬̜̫̽̈́̑̔̚ь̷̡̪̦͚̫͖̥̥̮̣̋̏́̉͑̈́̒̿̕̚͜͠ͅѯ̶̜̺̤̘̪̞̱̩̓͒̉́̈́́̓ ̶̛̭̝̪̪̯͙̙͕͕͈͖̲Ҝ̴̡̢͈̲͔̱̼̠̝̄̔͐̑̚h̵̶̢̦̙̭̝̽̏҅̒̍͋О̵̨̡̰̪̫̳̣͈̻̯̓̊̒͗̈́̈̽̓̌̚͘͠ whispers to you: That’s not important, let the others discover that. You need to go to the basement. Trust your gut._

_Ѩ̷̢̯͙̘͇̤̘̞̲̫͊͒̾̾̒̍̉с̷̪̪̙̃̐̈́̎̒̓͒̅͆͋̔ӓ̸̝̉͛̈̓͑̏̀̃͠͝͝͝ ̶̧̛̛̬͇̤̝̘̙̯͓̖̥͈͉̃͒̂̀̓͑͛̅͋̐͆͠ҕ̵̨̢̧̡̨̖̞̼̀͝һ̸̣̜̳̣̈́Ӎ̵̧̮̰̥̙̼̑̆̏͘͝ͅф̸̢̡̨̳̟̺̙̠̹̮̼̟͇̘͋͑̇͒͜͝ ̸̛̛͈̳̠̳͎̩͐̐̐̃́̅͐̚͜Ѣ̶̺̟̰̮̲̯̫̲͚͓̝̰̙̰̟͒̃̍̂Ҥ̷̛͙̳͍̗̜̈̓̊̑̈̏̍̓͘ӽ̴̯͕̯̞̩͉̟̺̳̙̰͓͈̾̇̓̄͆̚͜͜Ӟ̷̧͚̜͚͇̬̜̫̽̈́̑̔̚ь̷̡̪̦͚̫͖̥̥̮̣̋̏́̉͑̈́̒̿̕̚͜͠ͅѯ̶̜̺̤̘̪̞̱̩̓͒̉́̈́́̓ ̶̛̭̝̪̪̯͙̙͕͕͈͖̲Ҝ̴̡̢͈̲͔̱̼̠̝̄̔͐̑̚h̵̶̢̦̙̭̝̽̏҅̒̍͋О̵̨̡̰̪̫̳̣͈̻̯̓̊̒͗̈́̈̽̓̌̚͘͠ whispers to you: I can’t talk anymore, just please, go to the basement._

“Skeppy?” Bad suddenly turned to look at him, and cocked his head, “Who are you messaging??” he asked, confusion clear across his face. “It’s nothing, Bad. I was just answering… Techno about where we were- you know how he can be such a worry wart!” Skeppy laughed nervously, and even though Bad looked suspicious, he seemed to accept it as a proper response and turned back to the aquarium when another message popped up. Skeppy let out a silent sigh, _I thought they couldn’t talk anymore-_

_Ph1LzA was slain while trying to escape Zombies_

“…what?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 8/15 Alive...
> 
> Another week and another chapter closer to the end! We're a little over halfway through the fic! I'd say we're about 65% done?  
> We're getting close to the end which is absolutely mind blowing to me and I just wanted to thank all of you for the support and apologize for all the heartbreak '^^
> 
> Anyways, don't forget to take care of yourselves and drink water!! (and don't forget to take your meds!) <3
> 
> (Oh and just in case it isn't clear- there isn't any ships in this fic. Just wanted to put that out there in case anyone read Bad and Skeppy's friendship in a more romantic way instead of a platonic way.)


	24. Cold As Ice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tensions rise and friendships fall. Can the gang really survive this mansion? Or were they doomed from the start...

“Techno! Techno, please, please wake up!”

Techno’s brain was foggy, already feeling a headache worming its way into the front of his head; and Tommy’s voice certainly wasn’t helping. He groaned and squeezed his eyes open, “What do you want, Tommy-” He mumbled before Tommy’s face came into focus, the blue eyes wild and cheeks wet with tears; the fear that surged through his system suddenly made Techno wide awake, “What’s wrong?” He immediately sat up. “Phil- Phil is-…” Tommy couldn’t get the words out, “…Check chat.” His voice cracked as he tried to use his sleeves wipe the tears out of his eyes. Techno’s stomach dropped, but he did as Tommy said and the first message in chat displayed a message he never wanted to see again.

_Ph1LzA was slain while trying to escape Zombies_

“When did this happen.”

“Techno-“

“ _When.”_

Tommy flinched back just a bit and looked away, “A few minutes ago, five at the most. I was in the bathroom when I saw the message and when I came back- you were the only one still here.” He said quickly as Techno stood up and grabbed his stuff, ignoring the crown. “Where’s my-? My sword is missing.” He frowned at the empty sheath, but before he could say anything else, Niki burst through the front doors to the library, hair falling in her face as she gasped for air, her eyes looking around wildly before locking on to the two remaining Sleepy Boys. “What happened?! Where are the others?!” She demanded in between breaths.

“We don’t know- where even were you?!” Tommy eyed her suspiciously, subconsciously stepping closer to Techno. “I went for a walk to clear my head- did Tubbo not tell you? I lost track of time and the next thing I realized; Phil had been teleported. I had walked too far out and by the time I got back here, the death message went through.” She explained quickly, hastily throwing her hair into a ponytail, “Do the others know?” she motioned towards the hallway. “How could they not know,” Techno growled lowly, his chat window open as he typed to someone. The truth hadn’t quite sunk in- he didn’t want to think about that yet, not when Wilbur was still out of his eyesight.

_Technoblade whispers to you: Where are you_

Wilbur barely processed the message as he knelt next to Tubbo. Phil’s body had disappeared in a puff of smoke a few minutes ago and the two of them sat next to each other silently as they tried to process the event. Tubbo was practically clutching onto him for dear life, sobbing into Wilbur’s sweater as Wil held him with his thousand-yard stare into the wall. The thing that Tubbo didn’t know, however, was that there was a slow burning anger that had been forming in Wilbur, growing larger and larger as time went on, as he processed everything that had happened so far. Though, it’s hard to see the truth through rose colored glasses, and Wilbur had had his suspicions against someone in their party since Fundy died. Once Tubbo calmed down, he would make his move- but for now, all he could do was support his younger brother.

_Technoblade whispers to you: I know you aren’t dead yet, Wilbur, where are you._

_Tommyinnit whispers to you: TUBBO WHERE ARE YOU_

_Tommyinnit whispers to you: TUBBO PLEASE_

Tubbo sniffled as he tentatively pulled away from Wilbur, his breath finally stabilizing as he began to calm down somewhat. He still held Phil’s bucket hat tight to his chest, but he knew if he didn’t message Tommy back that he would go insane.

_You whisper to Tommyinnit: Tunnels below basement._

_You whisper to Tommyinnit: We found Phil_

“You ready to head back upstairs?” Wilbur snapped out of his shock when he felt Tubbo pull away and immediately went back to big brother mode, his voice was soft and comforting- the exact opposite of how he felt. Tubbo hesitated, his gaze drifting to the space where Phil used to be, a stain of dried blood being the only marker of the murder they had witnessed. He loosed a shaky breath, “Yeah…” his voice was hoarse and broken, but frankly he was just glad he still had it. Wilbur stood first, shaky on his feet, but solid as he carefully pulled Tubbo up, the two holding hands as if they were a lifeline. They trudged up the dark and musty tunnel in silence, Wilbur clutching Techno’s sword and taking out any remaining zombies while Tubbo held the torch to light their way.

By the time they reached the basement, they were thoroughly exhausted and could hear Tommy and Techno calling for them. At the sound of their brothers’ voices, they perked up somewhat and ran towards the sound, barely managing to follow the soul torch path to the exit. “We’re over here!” Wilbur called, knowing Tubbo wouldn’t be able to shout. The sound of footsteps got louder and as Tommy and Techno rounded the corner and came face to face with Wilbur and Tubbo, they practically cried in relief. Wordlessly, Techno pulled Wilbur into a tight hug, the sword dropping from Wil’s hand as the grief finally hit both of them.

Once again, Wilbur found himself holding one of his brothers as the anger built up more and more within his body, _he knew who did it_ , and he refused to let them hide any longer. Yet it wasn’t time for that right now. He looked over at Tubbo and Tommy, who were holding each other quietly as they grieved. He held out an arm and the two quickly ran over into his embrace, the four brothers taking solace within each others’ arms.

Meanwhile, the members of the party that remained upstairs were just as worried as the group downstairs, even though they didn’t know who remained alive.

The last time a group of people went down into the basement, multiple people didn’t make it back up, and while they knew Phil was gone… They weren’t sure about the others.

Niki paced back and forth in front of the fireplace, biting her nails nervously as she repeatedly checked the chat box- worried she would miss a crucial message. When the death message came through, Bad raced to Dream and told Skeppy to check who remained in the library while he silently kicked himself for leaving Dream alone for so long. He swore this mansion messed with his mind, making him think and act differently than he normally did- made him forget things that he should have remembered. Bad really felt like he should recognize this place, but he just couldn’t place _why_ he recognized it, maybe it was from a story he read? Whenever he thought more about the mansion, the foggier his mind became.

Luckily, Dream had been safe and sleeping soundly, and while it pained Bad to have to wake him up to more bad news- Dream had a right to know. So, while Niki paced in front of the Mantle and Skeppy watched the room for intruders from the shadows, Bad carefully broke the news that another player had died. Dream didn’t say a word, in fact he hadn’t said much after George and Sapnap’s deaths, and he simply sat crisscrossed on the couch next to bad, thinking back on everything he knew about the mastermind and everything he knew about Phil. His brain wasn’t running at 100% like it did when he had his notebook and George and Sapnap to help him work through all the information they knew.

He couldn’t remember much from the “incident”, his brain had blocked out a lot of the gruesome parts, but the thing he did remember- _was the person who did it_. Of course, he couldn’t give the person a name or a face, but he learned the general makeup of their body. He knew they were on the shorter side based on their profile next to the trees, and he knew that the mastermind was _very_ good with a bow.

His first thoughts were of Wilbur- but he knew that Wilbur was tall, much taller than Dream himself, so that marked him off the suspect list. He had then convinced himself of Phil being the mastermind, since he knew how good of a shot Phil was and he was around the height that Dream guesstimated, but after this morning’s events… well, to put it simply, Phil was no longer a suspect… Then there was Tommy, and Dream knew firsthand that Tommy was _not_ good with a bow, which was proven from their duel during the Revolution. He also didn’t think Tubbo was a good shot either, and while both boys fit the height category- he seriously doubted it was them. That just left Bad, Skeppy, Techno, and Niki.

Based on the shooter’s build and how they walked- he knew it wasn’t Niki, since her gait was very unique. Bad… he would never kill Sapnap and George, he would _never_. Techno wasn’t the type of guy to do this kind of a set up just to kill people, but he was a fairly good shot- and since Dream couldn’t fully rule him out, he was suspect #2. That just left one person.

_Skeppy_.

His eyes flickered to the blue clad man in the shadows, the one who always trailed a few steps behind Bad, the one who always made sure Bad was safe, the one who was always a loner type on the SMP. The one who built a _mansion_ on the SMP. Dream’s eyes narrowed as he looked Skeppy up and down, as if he were assessing Skeppy’s threat level, and as he opened his mouth to speak- the hallway door flung open with a bang. Wilbur strode through the door, a look of death in his eyes as he locked eyes with Dream.

“ ** _YOU._** ” Wilbur shouted, striding towards Dream with hatred clear across his face and diamond sword in hand. Bad reacted quickly, standing up from the couch and taking a protective stance in front of Dream, all while Tubbo reached to grab Wil’s arm to hold him back. “How **_dare_** you take him from us! Take him from _me, **you fucking psychopath.**_ ” Wilbur snarled, attempting to pull his arm free from Tubbo’s grip. Dream’s eyes were wide, leaning back away from Wil, gripping the edges of the couch with white knuckles, “I-I-“

“Don’t you ‘I-I-‘ me, you green piece of shit!” Wilbur wrenched his arm from Tubbo’s grip right as Niki snatched the sword from his hand, but that only resulted in Wil balling his fist. He looked straight through Bad, barely even noticing the player as he stared Dream down with daggers in his eyes. Skeppy stepped in quickly, grabbing Bad by the sleeve and pulling him out of the way as Wilbur suddenly lurched forward and grabbed Dream by the shirt.

Before Dream could react, he was pulled to his feet and found Wilbur towering over him- the two inches the Brit had over him suddenly feeling like feet. “I didn’t say _anything_ when you killed George and Sapnap. I _gave you_ the benefit of the doubt, thought you couldn’t possibly kill _your best friends,_ but then you had to kill Phil- _my dad_.” Wilbur snarled in Dream’s face, his voice low and soft.

Wilbur’s way of threatening people was different than most. He wasn’t loud or violent, he was _cold_ and almost calm despite his words clearly indicating otherwise. Dream had been threatened by plenty of people in his life- but this was by far the worst. Every possible defense died on his tongue, so he just stood and took it. “Well no more, _I won’t let you hurt anyone else._ You hear me, green boy? The jig is up-“

Bad wrenched himself away from Skeppy, throwing a dirty look in his direction before intercepting Dream and Wilbur. He shoved Wilbur back, and Dream stumbled backwards with eyes wide in fear, instinctively reaching for Bad’s hand. “What is _wrong_ with you, Wilbur?!” Bad demanded, once again stepping protectively in front of Dream, “I get that you’re grieving. Believe me- I know better than most about how you’re feeling, but how **_dare you_** take it out on Dream. Don’t you think he’s grieving too?! It’s barely been _twelve hours_ since he lost his family-”

“ _WELL IT’S BEEN LESS THAN AN HOUR FOR ME,_ _BADBOYHALO_!” Wilbur suddenly shouted, he moved to step in closer to Bad, but Techno finally got involved- reaching forward to hold Wilbur back with a hand on the shoulder. Yet Techno’s eyes told a different story, for his eyes were also full of hatred, and while that anger wasn’t quite directed at Dream- the speedrunner felt it all the same. “AND THE PAIN IS THE SAME, _WILBUR SOOT._ ” Bad quickly fired back, “You really think that _Dream_ would kill George and Sapnap? His closest friends that he’s known since he was a _kid?!”_ Bad took a step forward, not caring about their height difference, “Dream would _never_ hurt them. No matter how angry he is or what they’ve done, he would NEVER, _ever_ take it out on them. _But I guess that isn’t something **you** would understand, now is it?_”

The temperature dropped in the room as a cold breeze drifted across all of them and the fire was suddenly extinguished, their breaths turning to fog. Suddenly, Bad and Wilbur were frowning in confusion, stepping away from each other with sudden, piercing headaches. “I- I don’t know what came over me… Wilbur, I-“

“You’re right…”

“No! I-“

“ ** _You_** have said enough, _Badboyhalo_.” Tommy suddenly stepped in between Bad and Wilbur, his tone ice cold, “I think you all should leave.” His gaze traveled across the three remaining members of Dream’s group, “Now.”

Skeppy reached out to gently pull Bad out of the room, but Bad flinched away from his touch, deciding instead to carefully lead Dream out of the room. Yet the tensions hadn’t quite dissipated, and as Dream moved to leave with Bad, Techno suddenly knocked shoulders with Dream. “Watch where you’re going, Dream.” Techno snapped, but Dream said nothing, eyes wide- but not in fear. He felt his notebook suddenly appear in his jacket and saw that the hatred he saw in Techno’s eyes earlier was not aimed at him, as he originally thought. The angry voice was just an act, but for _who?_

The room fell silent as the rift solidified between the two sides, the mastermind’s plan for them to turn on each other working perfectly.

_So why did the mastermind feel so dead inside?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 8/15 alive...
> 
> This was a rough one, but I've had the fight scene planned out for weeks and it's kinda surreal that I finally got to write it. I'm about to hit 200 pages on this bad boy and it's so weird to me. Thank you guys so much for the support!  
> I'm not sure if I'll be able to get a chapter out next week, so in case I don't: Have a Happy Hanukkah, a blessed Yule, a Merry Christmas, or just enjoy a wonderful week! Stay safe, everyone, and have a happy holiday!!  
> <3 <3
> 
> (P.S. don't forget to take your meds and drink some water!!)


	25. Dead Men Tell No Tales

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arguments between friends can only lead to heartbreak

“What is wrong with you?! Why did you pull me away?!”

“Wilbur could have killed you, Bad! Did you see how crazy he looked?!”

“He could have killed Dream!”

“Dream isn’t as fragile as you!”

“Oh, I’m _fragile_ , now?!”

Dream sat on the foot of the bed, quietly flicking through the pages of his notebook as Bad and Skeppy argued. Their words didn’t quite reach his ears though- they had just become muffled sounds in the back of his head. If anything, he could hear the rain pounding on the windows behind him clearer than he could hear them.

He knew that they were arguing about him and about what had happened in the room with the fireplace- but he didn’t really care that much anymore. Maybe Wilbur was right...

Dream’s eyes trailed away from the scrawled writing in his notebook to look at his hands. He swore he could still see them caked in the blood of his friends as he tried to staunch their blood to keep them alive. He knew deep down that it wasn’t his fault- he knew that there was nothing he could have done, but it didn’t make the pain hurt any less than it already did. It had just become a dull ache in his heart that he would have to learn to live with.

As he flicked to the next page, his eyes rested on the sketch he had made of the mastermind- their dark form nestled in-between the shadows of the trees. He remembered their silent threat- a promise of a death that had yet to be fulfilled. If they had really wanted him dead, why did they let him keep his notebook? They’d had plenty of times to take it from him, but they let him keep it. They had to know he was getting close to their identity, right? Hell, they had wiped his inventory earlier on in the basement, but they let him keep the notebook which meant that they must want to be caught. So why did they bother threatening him?

His mind was all over the place. Since his thoughts had trailed to the mastermind and the only physical interaction he had with the mastermind- they also trailed back to the _incident_ itself. The images of George and Sapnap getting hit by the arrows replayed through his mind over and over and over; even when he was not trying to think about it. His memories of the mastermind had been tainted by the event it was connected to and he was finding it incredibly hard to _not_ think about the deaths. He squeezed his eyes shut and his body tensed as he tried to push the memory away, trying desperately to think of other things- yet all the thoughts would end up back at the one he _didn’t_ want to see.

He snapped the notebook shut and his knuckles turned white from how hard he held onto the book- his only connecting line that kept him from spiraling. It was real and it was in his hands- it kept him grounded as he struggled to come back from his thoughts and into reality. He took a deep breath and forced himself to open his eyes and to focus on the sound of the rain on the window. He had to stay grounded if he wanted to figure out the killer’s identity, and even though every part of his head screamed at him to do something else- he opened the notebook back up.

He stared at the sketch for a few moments before flipping to a new page, taking the quill out of his inventory to scrawl a new title: “Identifiers”

_ Identifiers: _

_ \- Height. The Killer stands between 5’5” and 6’2”. Probably closer to 5’8”-9” _

_ \- Aim. They clearly shot their targets from a range of 250-300 yards.  _

_ \- Motive. Unclear, but they seem to want to be caught. Could be an ego thing- could be a guilt thing. Maybe being manipulated?  _

_ \- Hair Color. It was hard to tell from distance and because of shadows, but I think I saw a portion of their hair. It was messy, but it looked brown. Not dark enough to be confused with black hair- but definitely not blonde. I didn’t see it well enough for it to stand up as evidence, but it’s something to keep in the back of my head.  _

Dream stared down at the page, raking his head for any more potential identifiers, but it was hard to do when he had to keep his thoughts away from the incident. However, as he thought more and more- he swore he could hear something else apart from the rain. That’s when he realized the arguments had stopped.

“Dream?”

Bad stayed back away from Dream, not wanting to accidentally scare him and end up with another bloody nose like he did when he woke Skeppy. Dream suddenly snapped back to attention, noticing Bad standing in front of him, the white eyes concerned as they searched his face for anything amiss. “Sorry, were you talking to me?” Dream mumbled, gently closing the notebook to prevent Bad from seeing what he had written under “Indentifiers”.

“Well- I was trying to… Did you hear Skeppy and I arguing?” Bad’s voice was soft, yet strained. Dream shook his head, “Not really. I tuned most of it out. Was I supposed to listen?” Bad’s shoulders relaxed somewhat, “No, no! I’m glad you didn’t hear… but- well, it got really bad and Skeppy stormed out. I want to go after him, but I need to make sure you’ll be okay.” He danced around the subject, which explained the tense nature of his body, “I wanted to give you my axe, so you can protect yourself. I know the mastermind stole yours in the basement, so you should keep this.” Bad rested the diamond axe on the bed next to Dream. Normally the speedrunner would have put up a fight, saying something about how he could handle himself and that Bad needed the axe more than he did but, frankly, he was too tired to fight Bad on the subject. He didn’t even look down at the axe, just maintained eye contact with Bad.

“Stay safe,”

“I will. You’ll barely even notice I’m gone.”

* * *

Bad let out a shaky breath and tried to calm his nerves as best as he could. Skeppy couldn’t have gone far- he wouldn’t be that reckless when it came to a mansion such as this one- he had to know Bad would worry too much. He knew that Skeppy was fine- he had to be fine, because Bad didn’t know what he would do if he lost Skeppy too.

_No_ \- He refused to even think about it.

He didn’t know why he was here, in the Mansion’s larger library, staring down at the area where Punz had died. He didn’t even remember how he had gotten here. One moment he was looking for Skeppy, and the next moment he was here- at the scene of the first murder. He stood on the upper landing, feeling oddly calm as he looked over the various stains on the wooden floor. He knew that he should _not_ be so nonchalant in a place like this- but he was.

Standing on the opposite side of the landing was the Mastermind, not bothering to hide their identity as they regarded Bad with a sense of grief. The two stared at each other in silence for a few moments, there was no confrontation- no shouting or confusion- just… acceptance. The Mastermind was the first one to speak.

“If it’s any consolation- I am sorry about this.” They called out, a command already typed out in their chat box. “I know… You’re a good person, you know that? The others might call you a monster or insane, but I know that you’re a good person. You must have a reason for this, and I’m sorry I couldn’t help.”

The Mastermind choked on their own emotions, not prepared for the way their victim humanized them. The others were all mad or distressed- The Mastermind could handle those kinds of emotions, but this? This was different.

“I am so sorry, Badboyhalo.” They choked out with a broken sob. Bad just gave them a soft, understanding smile.

“It’s okay, I understand.” He felt an odd sense of relief- he knew what was coming and was… okay with it, “Tell Dream I’m sorry, okay?”

The mastermind clicked ‘enter’ on the command and Bad disappeared before their eyes,

“I will…” they dropped to their knees. They weren’t expecting all of this to hurt as much as it did.

Bad closed his eyes as he felt the familiar sensation of server command teleportation, it had always felt less jarring than the Ender Pearl teleportation. Soon, he found himself in a new, but not unfamiliar room, and found himself regretting his earlier words about the aquarium.

The tank was different than how he had always seen it though. The beautiful tropical fish were gone, the coral that they had happily swam around was dead and decaying- the sea lanterns broken and dim. Yet worst of all, the tank wasn’t quite empty of fish- in fact it was quite the opposite. It was _filled_ with salmon, each and every one of them carrying the nametag of “Mr. Squeegee” and Bad suddenly understood the irony of his death.

Yet he hadn’t quite lost all hope, as there was a chance of survival in the form of a wooden plank across the exposed tank- it seemed to be holding the lid open. If he could just make it to the other side, he could descend the ladder and survive the encounter.

He took a deep breath and held his arms out, hoping they would help him balance as he carefully walked across the thin wooden board, which seemed to bend further and further with every step. The salmon swum around anxiously below him, disturbing the surface and splashing him every now and then- which did nothing to ease his nerves.

The wood creaked as it warped further and further until he was mere inches from the water. He let out a breath as it stopped its decent right as he got to the middle of the tank- but he shouldn’t have taken it as a good sign. The silence of the brittle wooden board meant only one thing- it had bent as far as it could go and as Bad took his next step- it snapped.

Bad was sent tumbling into the water with barely enough time to suck in a final breath before the lid slammed shut above him. The rotting wood sank to the bottom of the tank as Bad desperately pushed on the top of the tank, begging the obsidian lid to budge enough for him to get air- yet he had no luck. Deep down he knew that struggling only wasted precious seconds of air- but it’s hard to remember common sense like that when you’re fighting for your life. He could see the darkness closing in at the edges of his vision.

* * *

Skeppy felt guilty- he shouldn’t have let his emotions get the better of him and he shouldn’t have stormed out. While, yes, it gave him time to cool down and think rationally- it also widened the divide he had felt forming between him and Bad. He was just trying to watch out for Bad! Keep them both alive through all this madness! Yet… he was hiding his emotions from Bad, and as long as he hid those things- the divide would stay. He took a deep breath and headed out of the cool air of the garden and began walking towards the aquarium room- Bad’s favorite room in the Mansion.

He knocked softly on the door and received no response, then as he went to knock again, he heard a crack and a splashing sound. He frowned and gently opened the door, “Bad? Are you in here-?”

He froze at the scene before him.

The aquarium’s calm and soothing ambience had been drastically changed, the light was gray and cold and instead of the cute tropical fish- there were salmon. Yet that was not what Skeppy was focused on- it was Bad fighting for his life under the water with absolutely no way out.

“BAD!!”

Skeppy ran up to the tank, eyes panicked as he slammed a fist onto the glass- desperate to find a way out for Bad. He tried to break the glass with just his hands, ignoring the pain that came with it- wasn’t glass supposed to be easy to break?! Bad knew that his time was running out, he could already feel his lungs straining and he knew he didn’t have much longer- so he stopped fighting and turned to Skeppy. He gently placed his hand on his side of the glass and Skeppy mirrored the movement- tears running down his cheeks.

‘I’m sorry’ Bad mouthed, not caring about the air he lost to do so, ‘It’s okay’

“It’s not okay! Please don’t leave me!!” Skeppy practically sobbed, wishing he could have hugged Bad one more time before the end, “I can’t do this without you!!” he begged, putting his other hand to the glass, as if it would somehow connect them.

Bad wanted to say more- he really did- but it was too late. He had run out of time, and as he said his final goodbyes, the world went dark. Skeppy watched in horror as Bad’s eyes closed and he drifted to the bottom of the dank, looking almost as if he were sleeping. Skeppy sank to his knees, hands still on the cool glass of the tank.

_Badboyhalo drowned_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 7/15 alive...
> 
> Oh boy, the group is really thinning huh?  
> I'm glad I didn't update last week because this chapter really would have ruined any holiday spirits!(Though technically it is still holiday season as Kwanzaa is still being celebrated ^^')  
> Hopefully I didn't break your guys' hearts too much!   
> Only a few more deaths to go! Have you guys figured out who the mastermind is? Or more importantly who the Spearhead is? >:)
> 
> Anyways, don't forget to drink water, eat some food, and take your meds! Stay safe and stay healthy! <3


	26. Play with Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skeppy has a realization and the Mastermind decides to confront the Spearhead

Skeppy wasn’t sure how long he stayed at the foot of the tank. He knew that he needed to get up and tell the others what had happened, but he just… couldn’t… All he could do was sit there and see the events playing through his mind over and over- thinking about what he could’ve done wrong, what he could have done differently to save Bad. No matter how much he thought it through, however, he couldn’t find a way that could have saved his best friend- and the deed was done. Bad was gone and there was nothing he could’ve done about it.

He took a deep breath and slowly rose to his feet, opening his eyes for the first time in what seemed like forever. His whole body ached, but he seemed to be able to move- or at least stand. When he looked back at the tank, he was surprised to see how different it looked- how had it changed this much when he was the only person in the room? All the water had been drained, the salmon that had been swimming there were now gone without a trace, and one of the glass panes had been broken, allowing him to easily reach inside and grab Bad’s memento- his glasses.

He held the glasses gently in his hands, not noticing the tears that dropped onto the frames as he really processed that Bad was gone. Two years of memories flashed through his head in an instant, the good times and the bad- and common sense hit him like a freight train. _What was he doing?_

He looked back up from the glasses, and hastily wiped the tears away from his eyes and pulled the cracked mask out of his inventory. Everything suddenly felt so much clearer- it felt like the fog that had clouded his mind the moment he had joined the server had finally lifted. Dream wasn’t a cold and calculating murderer- he wasn’t a mindless killer who spent all of his time researching ways to outsmart everyone else, he was just another player who was trapped in this game- he was a _friend._

Skeppy thought back to all the times he had seen Dream, both in this server and in the SMP. Dream had always been the kind and helping overseer of the SMP, and if you ever needed any help- you could count on Dream to be there with you through it all with a comforting smile. Why had Skeppy been so determined that Dream was behind all this? _What was it with this server?_

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, thinking about everything that had happened in the server and who among their group seemed to be the most skittish and scared. The one who was guilty. He felt the fog descend back over his memories and knew he didn’t have much time before the mansion- or whatever was doing this- caused him to get angry at Dream again.

_Ѩ̷̢̯͙̘͇̤̘̞̲̫͊͒̾̾̒̍̉с̷̪̪̙̃̐̈́̎̒̓͒̅͆͋̔ӓ̸̝̉͛̈̓͑̏̀̃͠͝͝͝ ̶̧̛̛̬͇̤̝̘̙̯͓̖̥͈͉̃͒̂̀̓͑͛̅͋̐͆͠ҕ̵̨̢̧̡̨̖̞̼̀͝һ̸̣̜̳̣̈́Ӎ̵̧̮̰̥̙̼̑̆̏͘͝ͅф̸̢̡̨̳̟̺̙̠̹̮̼̟͇̘͋͑̇͒͜͝ ̸̛̛͈̳̠̳͎̩͐̐̐̃́̅͐̚͜Ѣ̶̺̟̰̮̲̯̫̲͚͓̝̰̙̰̟͒̃̍̂Ҥ̷̛͙̳͍̗̜̈̓̊̑̈̏̍̓͘ӽ̴̯͕̯̞̩͉̟̺̳̙̰͓͈̾̇̓̄͆̚͜͜Ӟ̷̧͚̜͚͇̬̜̫̽̈́̑̔̚ь̷̡̪̦͚̫͖̥̥̮̣̋̏́̉͑̈́̒̿̕̚͜͠ͅѯ̶̜̺̤̘̪̞̱̩̓͒̉́̈́́̓ ̶̛̭̝̪̪̯͙̙͕͕͈͖̲Ҝ̴̡̢͈̲͔̱̼̠̝̄̔͐̑̚h̵̶̢̦̙̭̝̽̏҅̒̍͋О̵̨̡̰̪̫̳̣͈̻̯̓̊̒͗̈́̈̽̓̌̚͘͠ whispers to you: Do you trust me now?_

_You whisper to Ѩ̷̢̯͙̘͇̤̘̞̲̫͊͒̾̾̒̍̉с̷̪̪̙̃̐̈́̎̒̓͒̅͆͋̔ӓ̸̝̉͛̈̓͑̏̀̃͠͝͝͝ ̶̧̛̛̬͇̤̝̘̙̯͓̖̥͈͉̃͒̂̀̓͑͛̅͋̐͆͠ҕ̵̨̢̧̡̨̖̞̼̀͝һ̸̣̜̳̣̈́Ӎ̵̧̮̰̥̙̼̑̆̏͘͝ͅф̸̢̡̨̳̟̺̙̠̹̮̼̟͇̘͋͑̇͒͜͝ ̸̛̛͈̳̠̳͎̩͐̐̐̃́̅͐̚͜Ѣ̶̺̟̰̮̲̯̫̲͚͓̝̰̙̰̟͒̃̍̂Ҥ̷̛͙̳͍̗̜̈̓̊̑̈̏̍̓͘ӽ̴̯͕̯̞̩͉̟̺̳̙̰͓͈̾̇̓̄͆̚͜͜Ӟ̷̧͚̜͚͇̬̜̫̽̈́̑̔̚ь̷̡̪̦͚̫͖̥̥̮̣̋̏́̉͑̈́̒̿̕̚͜͠ͅѯ̶̜̺̤̘̪̞̱̩̓͒̉́̈́́̓ ̶̛̭̝̪̪̯͙̙͕͕͈͖̲Ҝ̴̡̢͈̲͔̱̼̠̝̄̔͐̑̚h̵̶̢̦̙̭̝̽̏҅̒̍͋О̵̨̡̰̪̫̳̣͈̻̯̓̊̒͗̈́̈̽̓̌̚͘͠ : No, but I’ll play along with your stupid game. I’ll go to the basement._

_Ѩ̷̢̯͙̘͇̤̘̞̲̫͊͒̾̾̒̍̉с̷̪̪̙̃̐̈́̎̒̓͒̅͆͋̔ӓ̸̝̉͛̈̓͑̏̀̃͠͝͝͝ ̶̧̛̛̬͇̤̝̘̙̯͓̖̥͈͉̃͒̂̀̓͑͛̅͋̐͆͠ҕ̵̨̢̧̡̨̖̞̼̀͝һ̸̣̜̳̣̈́Ӎ̵̧̮̰̥̙̼̑̆̏͘͝ͅф̸̢̡̨̳̟̺̙̠̹̮̼̟͇̘͋͑̇͒͜͝ ̸̛̛͈̳̠̳͎̩͐̐̐̃́̅͐̚͜Ѣ̶̺̟̰̮̲̯̫̲͚͓̝̰̙̰̟͒̃̍̂Ҥ̷̛͙̳͍̗̜̈̓̊̑̈̏̍̓͘ӽ̴̯͕̯̞̩͉̟̺̳̙̰͓͈̾̇̓̄͆̚͜͜Ӟ̷̧͚̜͚͇̬̜̫̽̈́̑̔̚ь̷̡̪̦͚̫͖̥̥̮̣̋̏́̉͑̈́̒̿̕̚͜͠ͅѯ̶̜̺̤̘̪̞̱̩̓͒̉́̈́́̓ ̶̛̭̝̪̪̯͙̙͕͕͈͖̲Ҝ̴̡̢͈̲͔̱̼̠̝̄̔͐̑̚h̵̶̢̦̙̭̝̽̏҅̒̍͋О̵̨̡̰̪̫̳̣͈̻̯̓̊̒͗̈́̈̽̓̌̚͘͠ whispers to you: Thank you._

_Ѩ̷̢̯͙̘͇̤̘̞̲̫͊͒̾̾̒̍̉с̷̪̪̙̃̐̈́̎̒̓͒̅͆͋̔ӓ̸̝̉͛̈̓͑̏̀̃͠͝͝͝ ̶̧̛̛̬͇̤̝̘̙̯͓̖̥͈͉̃͒̂̀̓͑͛̅͋̐͆͠ҕ̵̨̢̧̡̨̖̞̼̀͝һ̸̣̜̳̣̈́Ӎ̵̧̮̰̥̙̼̑̆̏͘͝ͅф̸̢̡̨̳̟̺̙̠̹̮̼̟͇̘͋͑̇͒͜͝ ̸̛̛͈̳̠̳͎̩͐̐̐̃́̅͐̚͜Ѣ̶̺̟̰̮̲̯̫̲͚͓̝̰̙̰̟͒̃̍̂Ҥ̷̛͙̳͍̗̜̈̓̊̑̈̏̍̓͘ӽ̴̯͕̯̞̩͉̟̺̳̙̰͓͈̾̇̓̄͆̚͜͜Ӟ̷̧͚̜͚͇̬̜̫̽̈́̑̔̚ь̷̡̪̦͚̫͖̥̥̮̣̋̏́̉͑̈́̒̿̕̚͜͠ͅѯ̶̜̺̤̘̪̞̱̩̓͒̉́̈́́̓ ̶̛̭̝̪̪̯͙̙͕͕͈͖̲Ҝ̴̡̢͈̲͔̱̼̠̝̄̔͐̑̚h̵̶̢̦̙̭̝̽̏҅̒̍͋О̵̨̡̰̪̫̳̣͈̻̯̓̊̒͗̈́̈̽̓̌̚͘͠ whispers to you: If it’s any consolation, I’m sorry._

_You whisper to Ѩ̷̢̯͙̘͇̤̘̞̲̫͊͒̾̾̒̍̉с̷̪̪̙̃̐̈́̎̒̓͒̅͆͋̔ӓ̸̝̉͛̈̓͑̏̀̃͠͝͝͝ ̶̧̛̛̬͇̤̝̘̙̯͓̖̥͈͉̃͒̂̀̓͑͛̅͋̐͆͠ҕ̵̨̢̧̡̨̖̞̼̀͝һ̸̣̜̳̣̈́Ӎ̵̧̮̰̥̙̼̑̆̏͘͝ͅф̸̢̡̨̳̟̺̙̠̹̮̼̟͇̘͋͑̇͒͜͝ ̸̛̛͈̳̠̳͎̩͐̐̐̃́̅͐̚͜Ѣ̶̺̟̰̮̲̯̫̲͚͓̝̰̙̰̟͒̃̍̂Ҥ̷̛͙̳͍̗̜̈̓̊̑̈̏̍̓͘ӽ̴̯͕̯̞̩͉̟̺̳̙̰͓͈̾̇̓̄͆̚͜͜Ӟ̷̧͚̜͚͇̬̜̫̽̈́̑̔̚ь̷̡̪̦͚̫͖̥̥̮̣̋̏́̉͑̈́̒̿̕̚͜͠ͅѯ̶̜̺̤̘̪̞̱̩̓͒̉́̈́́̓ ̶̛̭̝̪̪̯͙̙͕͕͈͖̲Ҝ̴̡̢͈̲͔̱̼̠̝̄̔͐̑̚h̵̶̢̦̙̭̝̽̏҅̒̍͋О̵̨̡̰̪̫̳̣͈̻̯̓̊̒͗̈́̈̽̓̌̚͘͠ : Fuck. off._

After a minute with no response, Skeppy made his way back to Dream’s room- if anyone had to break the news to him- Skeppy would prefer it if he were the one to do so. He clutched Dream’s mask in one hand and gently cradled Bad’s glasses in the other, trying to think of an easy way to phrase the conversation. Yet when he finally reached the door, he had nothing- no comforting words or consoling speeches, but Dream didn’t really need that, did he? That wasn’t how Skeppy and Dream spoke anyways, so he figured he might as well just get this over with and rip off the bandage- so to speak.

The door creaked open softly, but Dream didn’t really notice, his mind was deep in thought and he was scouring his notebook for any clues he might have missed before. He didn’t notice Skeppy’s presence until he felt the bed sag slightly beside him. He blinked a few times and came back to reality, rubbing his eyes before turning to see that it was Skeppy sitting beside him.

“Skeppy? How long has it been? I kinda zoned out…” Dream asked in a soft tone, a tone that Skeppy had never heard from the speedrunner before. “It hasn’t been long but… we need to talk, Dream.” Skeppy took a deep breath and finally turned to meet Dream’s eyes, “First of all, I wanted to apologize about the way I’ve been treating you recently. It’s been cruel and rude, and I don’t know what came over me- but even if I wasn’t all there, I still did it, and I need to apologize for it.” He rambled quickly, looking away halfway through. He was startled when Dream put a hand on his shoulder and he looked back up, “It’s okay, I didn’t take it to heart. This mansion has brought out the worst in all of us, and it’s put us through a lot mentally. Believe me, I understand.” There was a soft, reassuring smile on Dream’s face as he spoke, but his eyes betrayed his concern, “Where is all this coming from?”

Skeppy’s heart felt like it skipped a beat and tears filled his eyes, his voice broke as he talked, “I… have some bad news that I don’t think you know about…” Dream frowned at this, “What are you talking about? You said I hadn’t been zoned out for that long…” dread filled his gut. Skeppy wiped at his eyes quickly and hesitantly pulled Bad’s glasses out of his inventory, he grabbed one of Dream’s hands and gently put the glasses in it, “The mastermind got him too… He drowned…”

The room fell into silence, Dream just stared at Skeppy, mouth agape as tears slowly began to fall down his cheeks- he didn’t even notice it. He slowly looked down at the glasses and with a choked sob, he held them close to his chest, and just cried. Skeppy leaned over and pulled Dream into a hug and the two took a few minutes to just grieve the loss of their best friend.

“He was sorry, but I think that he had accepted the idea of not making it out of here a while ago… He held on for so long because… he knew you needed him.” As their crying subsided, Skeppy pulled back away from Dream, “but I can’t stay here, not anymore. Not when he’s gone.” Skeppy took a shuddering, deep breath and stood up from the bed. He pulled the mask out of his inventory and laid it on the spot he had been sitting, “There’s something in the basement that’s calling me, I can’t explain why or how, but I have to go down there and figure it out.” He looked back over to Dream and placed a hand on his shoulder, “I know you’re gonna figure out who the bastard behind this is, and I trust you to do so, just… stay safe, okay? I better see you alive at the end of all of this.” He gently squeezed Dream’s shoulder and tried his best to give a confident look.

Dream looked back up at Skeppy, and even though he still had tears falling from his eyes, he had a new look, a look of determination. He pulled the mask onto his face, an old comfort for him- and a source of fear for others.

“You will. I’m gonna find this mastermind and _we_ will make them pay. No matter what it takes.”

* * *

It was nearly midnight when the mastermind slipped out of the mansion grounds, they knew it was risky to be caught alone and in the middle of the night- but this was worth it. Their steps were quiet as they thought about all the events that had transpired in the last twenty-four hours, about the pain that had been inflicted on their family- no, their acquaintances. They were letting themselves get attached to the group, once the truth came out the Mastermind would most certainly be outcast from the rest of them. That was… if the group didn’t decide to kill the Mastermind…

The more they thought about the last two deaths, the angrier they got. Though their steps were light across the gravel, heading towards the cliff, they felt rage course through their veins. They knew that this wouldn’t be easy, but the Spearhead _promised_ to let them do it on their own terms. _He promised._

The Spearhead was already waiting for them on the cliff, his back to the Mastermind as he looked over the moonlit ocean waves. The only sound in the night was the crash of water against rock hundreds of blocks below the two of them.

“What the hell was that?!”

“It’s good to see you, too.” The Spearhead ignored the anger, and calmly turned towards the mastermind, his lifeless eyes seemed to glow in the light of the moon, but the Mastermind couldn’t care less. “You _promised_ that _I_ would be the one to kill them, you _promised!_ ” The Mastermind shouted, storming up and pointing a finger in the Spearhead’s face. The Spearhead looked amused and brushed the finger away, as a warning, “You should know by now that promises mean _nothing_ to me. Besides, it was your plan to kill him- not me.”

“He wasn’t supposed to die this early! _You_ should have let me handle it!” The Mastermind ignored the warning and jabbed a finger into the Spearhead’s chest, and their anger dissipated as those lifeless eyes stared directly into his- _they messed up._ The Spearhead grabbed their hand by the wrist and twisted it sharply to the right until they both heard the telltale snap of bone and the mastermind cried out at the sudden influx of pain. They dropped to their knees and cradled their fractured wrist, trying not to worsen it in any way. The Spearhead grabbed them by the jaw and forced them to look up at him, “I want you to remember that all of this was _your_ plan, not mine. I gave you the resources you needed and time enough to plan out their deaths. You told me that you wanted this, wanted to be ‘the villain in their history’, yet you are _painfully_ slow and so damn emotional. I thought you hated them.”

“I-I do!”

“Then _why_ do you _hesitate?”_ The Spearhead hissed, yanking the Mastermind’s head to look at the mansion, “I could destroy that building right now, kill every single one of them in an instant, yet you insist on this game that they play. A murder mystery, as you described it. If you truly do not care for them, then why shouldn’t I kill them right now.” His words were hissed in the Mastermind’s ear.

The Mastermind stared at the mansion and stayed quiet for a few moments, a million thoughts running through their head. They remember the first time they saw it- when they were naïve and stupid, now it was a constant reminder of the fact that they were the one who made this game up. They couldn’t say they weren’t proud of their work, and in any other circumstance they would have happily played this game, but there were too many variables, too many unknowns. Everything was just… so complicated…

“Because that’s too good of a death for them.” The Mastermind wrenched their face out of the Spearhead’s grasp and stumbled to their feet, eyes set and determined, “I am emotional because I remember the times that I did love them, but they are no longer the people I love. They deserve slow and painful deaths- one that is suited to their crimes in life.” Their voice was low and hoarse; In the long shadows that were created by the full moon over head, the Spearhead couldn’t see the pain in their eyes, “I want them to know it was me and to try and repent

in their last moments. Heartbreak makes their deaths feel sweeter. Hell, you can even kill ӿ̸̨̪̠͍̺̬̪̯̘͍̥̝̗͑̃Ь̵̖̿̈́̃͂́͛͌̚М̶̠̱̼̭̝̬͚̻̱̪͙͕̞͙͚͆̍͛̿͌Ѵ̴̛͇̥͓̱̩͔̎͆͗͛͜Ђ̶͎͕͋̃͗̿͛́̈́͊͋͗̓͝͝t̸̢̛̜͖͈͔͎̻̯̾̂͌͜Ӆ̸̧͎͉̙̮̖̥͛͛̋̈́͜͠͝Ҭ̶̩̠͓̭̤̭̪͌̎̏̽̓̋̔̓͠!! I don’t care anymore. All of them have made their mistakes, and while yes, in the beginning I wanted to keep him alive, he has no use to me anymore. A rival is a rival. I can find another one just as easily as I found him.”

The Spearhead scoffed, somewhat surprised at the sudden change in emotion, but smiled as though he were a proud father, “I knew you were insane, but your thirst for blood always seems to surprise me. Perhaps when this is all done, you can help me more.” He grabbed the Mastermind’s bad wrist and gave it a pat, eliciting another cry of pain, “We’ll speak more later, pick up the pace and don’t delay like you have been.” He walked past the Mastermind, taking a moment to appreciate the mansion he had built, “Oh and Ѱ̴̧̫͖͔̘̔̎̉̄́̈́̓͘Ў̷̛̺̀Ӿ̶̩͉͍̣̻̥̤̂̋͑̿̅̽̈̓͘ӳ̸̫̰͇̝̰̪͔̀̋̇̿͐́̌͋͝ҿ̵̫͕̹̯̖̈́̄͛͌?” They turned back to look at the thoroughly broken Mastermind,

“Kill the speedrunner next. He’s too damn smart for his own good.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 7/15 alive....
> 
> Happy new year everyone! Ngl it's really weird to think we're already in 2021, but oh boy am I glad that 2020 is over.  
> Don't forget to drink water, eat some food, and take your meds! Stay safe and stay healthy! <3


	27. Achilles Heel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The truth finally comes to light.

Wilbur was still pacing in front of the fireplace when the death message came through, and as sad as it sounded- no one was really shocked over the news. They were sad, sure, but when death was constantly happening around you- it's hard to be surprised.

Niki cursed softly when she read it, falling back on the couch with her head in her hands, "Whoever the hell is doing this is sure trying to drive Dream insane." she murmured, not noticing the way Wilbur's pacing stopped. Techno looked up and gave Wilbur a look, "Don't even think about it, Wil." He murmured, voice low, "You've already said your piece to him, and until you have solid, irrefutable evidence against Dream- I don't wanna hear it." 

The two seemed to have a standoff of sorts for a few moments, but eventually Wil crumpled under Techno's glare and raked his fingers through his hair. "I know... It was dumb of me to confront him like that, I just..." his voice cracked and he looked away from Techno, "I just don't think I can handle the truth..." Techno frowned at this and stood up from the couch to approach Wilbur, "What do you mean, 'the truth'?" he asked, but didn't miss the way Wilbur averted his eyes, "Wilbur, what do you know that we don't?"

"It-... It's probably nothing and I probably just misheard them but..." Wilbur found it hard to spit out the truth, he didn't even want to consider that scenario, but too many people had already died... "Wilbur, do you know who's doing this?" Niki stood up slowly, concern evident on her face as she stared him down. The fire behind him slowly flickering out and dying as his face fell, putting his face in his hands, "It's probably nothing! ...but if you really want to hear about it, then we should probably tell Dream as well- and Skeppy, I guess..."

"What about the boys?"

"..."

"...No... Wil, you can't be serious!" Niki protested, his silence telling her all she needed to know, yet she didn't really want to believe it, "You can't tell me that you think the boys are behind all this!" she cried, keeping her voice lowered so as not to alert the two in the room over. As the two argued, Techno quietly left to go collect Dream from his room- but only if he thought Dream could handle investigating.

"I'm not saying they’re behind this! They just… well I overheard a conversation between the two of them and it was just suspicious, that’s all!” Wilbur attempted to alleviate her stress, but it was hard to even convince himself to not worry, “Gods, I shouldn’t have even brought it up, this was a mistake-“ Wilbur began to pace again, hugging his arms to his chest as his mind went a million miles a second. Niki opened her mouth to demand more info, but she recognized that Wilbur was in the beginning stages of a panic attack, and quickly dropped her argument. She moved in front of him and grabbed him by the shoulders, making him look down and meet her eyes, “Breathe, Wil… I know this is really hard to deal with, and this mansion is making all of us quick to anger and accusation, but I need you to take some deep breaths and calm down for me, alright?” He didn’t answer, only nodded and tried his best to stabilize his shaky breathing, focusing on taking deep breaths with Niki.

“Good, now why don’t we take a seat on the couch, and you and I can go over everything we know so far and come to a logical solution to all this, okay?” Her voice was soft and comforting and he slowly followed her to the couch, sitting cross legged across from her. She gently took his hands in her own and helped him take a few more deep breaths, “Alright, now let’s think about everything that’s happened so far, I’m sure that whatever you overheard the boys saying has a logical explanation and that they’re completely innocent like the rest of us.” she said and Wilbur nodded slowly.

“Should we wait for Dream? Or should I just tell you now?” his voice was shaky, but she was one of the few people who actually knew how to make him feel safe. “That’s entirely up to you, if it’ll help you collect your thoughts easier, then I’m all ears, but if you think you’ll only be able to talk about it once, then we can wait for the others.” Niki gave his hands a comforting squeeze and he nodded, closing his eyes and taking another deep breath, “Okay…”

* * *

Techno’s fist rapped lightly on the dark oak door of Dream’s room, he wasn’t sure if he was asleep or not, so he didn’t want to intrude too much, but the door swung open slightly at his knock. He gently pushed the door open further, “Dream?” he poked his head in to see Dream sitting at the foot of the bed, his legs tucked up to his chest as he stared down at a pair of glasses- Bad’s glasses. He barely even noticed as Techno walked in and sat beside him.

“Dream, I-“

“Why did you give me my book back?”

Dream’s voice was softer than it normally was, something that Techno hadn’t really heard before, he wasn’t sure if he liked it. “Uh- well, it was useless for me to keep it,” Techno admitted, laughing nervously, “Besides, out of all of us- you’re the one most likely to figure it out,” he shrugged. Dream slipped his mask over his face and turned to Techno, “Why do you trust me so much? How do you know I’m not the mastermind?”

The room went silent, the two staring at each other as if trying to discern the truth just by looking. “Well, if you were the mastermind, I don’t think I’d be alive right now.” Techno fought the urge to rest his hand on his sword, he trusted Dream- but he had been through a lot and had lost his loved ones. Techno wouldn’t be shocked if Dream _had_ completely lost his mind. After a tense silence, Dream’s shoulders slumped and he chuckled softly, “Fair point…” he dropped his legs back to the ground and pulled the hood of his jacket back over his head, “Is there a reason you came here?” he turned back to Techno. “Oh, yeah, I totally forgot, Wilbur has some sort information on Tommy and Tubbo and he said he wants to tell all of us,” Techno said as he stood up from the bed, “You don’t have to come if you’re not ready, I know how hard it can be to lose a-“

“Don’t.”

“Right, cool. So, are you coming, or…?”

“Yeah, I’m coming. I have a job to do.”

* * *

When Dream and Techno finally rejoined Wilbur and Niki, Wilbur had resumed his pacing in front of the fireplace, the room cold and dark in the absence of the previously lit fireplace. Techno cautiously went to lean on the arm of the couch as Dream stood nearby with his arms crossed. Wilbur paused his pacing to look nervously at the two PvPers, “Where’s Skeppy?” He asked, scanning the room. “Gone. He saw Bad die and decided he was going to search the basement. Pretty sure he just has a death wish, though.” Dream said in a deadpan voice, ignoring the horror that flashed across the other three peoples’ faces, “So don’t expect him to come back anytime soon,” he motioned for Wilbur to go on, but Wilbur stayed silent, ringing his hands nervously as he looked between the three.

“Y’know it’s really not that big of a deal, I shouldn’t have even brought it up-“

“Spit it out, Soot.”

Wilbur sighed and then took a deep breath, “Okay… Back when all of this nonsense first started, right after we found out about Eret and Punz, Tommy went missing. We all left to go search for him, right? Well, Tubbo and I went upstairs and we were briefly separated while he checked the attic- I was supposed to meet him after checking the second floor but…” Wilbur resumed his pacing, his words getting faster as he got closer to the truth, “but I couldn’t stop worrying about Tubbo, so I went up to the attic to check on him. Before I could call out to him, I heard voices- their voices. They were hidden in a wardrobe so I could only hear bits and pieces of their conversation, but from what I heard…” he loosed a shaky breath and stopped pacing to look back at the group, slowly meeting each of their eyes, “Tommy killed Eret. I’m not sure if Tubbo was in on it, since he sounded scared, but I’m not sure if he was scared _for_ Tommy or _of_ Tommy…”

“You know for a fact that Tommy killed Eret?” Dream’s voice had lost its earlier edge, he genuinely sounded concerned. He and Tommy had a rocky relationship sometimes, but he always looked out for the kid and liked to help Tommy whenever he could- Tommy was a good kid… but Dream would be lying if he said he couldn’t see Tommy as a killer. Wilbur nodded his head silently, “I heard that part of the conversation crystal clear. He said he was chasing Eret around the terraced part of the living room, and when Eret tripped- he pushed him the rest of the way out…” Wilbur motioned to the upstairs window, to the stained-glass window that had been witness to the crime, “Tubbo seemed to freak out a bit at this and he made up a lie for Tommy to tell us so that we wouldn’t get suspicious of him. They mentioned something about _Among Us_ , but I’m not sure why, unless…”

“Unless they’re _both_ in on it.” Techno finished his sentence, a heavy feeling in his heart as he thought of the two boys purposefully killing the others, “But would they really be able to pull off some of these things? I mean, Punz was literally strangled to death- would either of them be strong enough to pull that off?” He asked, looking between Wilbur and Dream. “Well, Punz had been blinded and poisoned, it wouldn’t be that hard to finish him off- he would have been at half strength, if that.” Dream mused, thinking about the other deaths, “Plus that was one of the only physical attacks- the other deaths have mainly taken advantage of traps and server commands, if Tommy is forcing Tubbo to help him then it would make sense why there’s been so much coding.” He shrugged, “I didn’t see Tommy as the Mastermind coming, it’s actually pretty genius.”

Niki couldn’t believe her ears, she looked between the three men in complete disbelief. Were they really talking about Tommy and Tubbo like this?

“What is _wrong_ with you three?!” She demanded as she stood up, anger welling deep inside her, “They are _sixteen!!_ They’re just as terrified as the rest of us, if not more! They’ve been traumatized by this stupid ‘game’ from the start!! Do you three even _hear_ yourselves?!” She had to keep herself from shouting, for as much as she wanted to, she didn’t want the boys to overhear her in the room over. She huffed, “You three are _unbelievable_. Let me know when you actually have evidence instead of just lies.” She stormed out of the room, bumping shoulders with Dream as she left. 

“Niki!” Wilbur seemed conflicted, he didn’t want to leave Niki alone- but he also didn’t want to leave Techno alone with Dream, since he still had a small nagging feeling in the back of his head that said Dream was the killer- but Techno had beat Dream once before, Wil was confident he could do it again. So, he gave a small nod to Techno and then gave chase after Niki.

“Do you really think Tommy and Tubbo are behind this?” Techno turned back to Dream, not sure what to think. Dream shrugged, “I don’t think both of them are doing this, but this makes me think about Tommy in a different light, he’s smarter than he lets on- you and I both know that.” He said, turning to the mantle, his eyes snagging on the bandana and sunglasses. He sighed and pulled Bad’s glasses out of his inventory, softly placing the frames next to Sapnap’s bandana. “What makes you think it isn’t Tubbo?” Techno’s voice was soft, and Dream refused to look back at him.

“I haven’t decided yet. Maybe we’re all murderers at the end of the day.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 7/15 Alive....
> 
> Sorry for the radio silence last week! I was having a really tough time mentally so I decided to take a break from writing for a week. The next chapter should come out soon since I already have a good portion of it done already, but I really appreciate your guys' patience!!   
> Remember to drink some water, eat some food, and take your meds! <3


	28. How the Mighty Fall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tommy and Tubbo think about their past and seem to come to a realization. Techno decides enough is enough.

It had been a while since Tommy and Tubbo had left the other group, it was hard to convince Wilbur and Niki, but they were persuaded to let the boys go when they had promised to stick together. They also told Niki and Wil that they would just be in the foyer, but they really planned on leaving the house to get some fresh air. They were a little shocked that the others let them stay out as long as they had, but they were glad to be able to share a sunset together again- maybe the last sunset they would ever enjoy together- but neither wanted to admit that out loud. So, for a while, they just sat in silence as they watched night fall over the server

“Why do we always find ourselves stuck in these kinds of situations…” Tubbo sighed, staring down at the crashing waves below them as they sat on the edge of the cliff. Tommy laughed drily, “What, you mean stuck in a murderous mansion? ‘Cause I dunno about you, but this is my first time doing that.” He said sarcastically. “Twice, actually.” Tubbo corrected with a sad smile. “Twice?” Tommy frowned but then thought back to a few months prior, “Oh… does that really count?” He laughed slightly, trying to ease the tension. Tubbo shrugged before falling back to lay on the grass, staring up at the stars that had just begun to show their faces, “I mean, it was a mansion and they tried to murder us, I’d say it counted.” Tommy fell beside him,

“Well yeah, but it wasn’t hardcore or anything, and it was just kind of a… game. That’s kinda different right?” Tommy covered his face with his hands, “but I know what you mean, we seem to be caught in situations that we really shouldn’t be caught in.” he sighed.

“You mean the war?” Tubbo asked, secretly relieved they weren’t forced to wear the uniforms in this server, “Or just L’Manberg in general?” Tommy made a noise of protest, “Wha- No! I love L’Manberg! It’s just… complicated at times!” He sat up and looked back down at Tubbo, “What… do you not like L’Manberg?” his voice turned softer. Tubbo hesitated, “No, no I love L’Manberg! I really do, it’s just… well, the war really sucked, but we made it out! Now there’s this whole election thing…” He slowly sat up and looked back at the mansion before looking to Tommy, “Like, you and Wil are great at this leading thing! Did we really need to do the election? Why can’t we just continue to have peace!” Tubbo argued, “Don’t you think that this is getting a little extreme?” Tommy frowned, searching Tubbo’s eyes for his true meaning,

“You… you aren’t saying that Wilbur’s behind this, are you?” His words were slow and deliberate, making sure each word landed correctly. Tubbo reeled back, “No!! I would never! I was talking about the SMP!” He spoke with wide eyes. “I mean… he has been acting rather strange since we got here-” Tommy pointed out, looking back to the mansion, but cut himself off as he looked at it in this new light, “Hold on- has the mansion always looked like that?”

Tubbo frowned and followed Tommy’s gaze before looking back at him with a concerned look, “…yes?” he tilted his head to get a better look at his best friend’s face, “Are you feeling alright, Toms?” he reached out, but Tommy smacked his hand away. “I’m being fuckin’ serious, Tubbo! Just look at it! Gods, how have we been so dumb?!” Tommy rose to his feet and began to pace, angrily mumbling under his breath. Tubbo stood cautiously, back to the cliffside, “There’s… Toms there’s no way it’s _him._ You said it yourself, it was just a game!” Tubbo’s glance flickered back and forth between the mansion and Tommy, laughing nervously, “Maybe the mastermind just copied the map, I mean…” he hesitated, not liking the look on Tommy’s face- the way his anger seemed to be getting the better of him.

“T-Tommy…?” Tubbo reached out once more, he didn’t like the strange look in Tommy’s eyes, but he should have known better than to try to stop an already angry Tommy. “I said I was serious, Tubbo! _Why can’t you listen to me for once!!”_

Before either of them knew what was happening, Tommy gave Tubbo’s shoulder a hard shove. Fear flashed across Tubbo’s face as the cliff crumbled beneath his feet, his stomach dropping as gravity suddenly pulled him down towards the cold embrace of the ocean. The anger drained out Tommy in an instant, he bolted forward, and just as Tubbo disappeared beneath the ledge, Tommy managed to grab tightly onto Tubbo’s arm. Tubbo cried as pain surged down his arm and shoulder, guessing that his arm had dislocated from his shoulder- though that was much better than the alternative- the crashing of the waves below them no longer felt comforting.

Tommy pulled Tubbo back up and over the ledge, the two of them collapsing a few blocks away from the cliff. Tubbo clutched tightly onto Tommy’s shirt, “Please don’t do that again…” his voice was barely audible, “I don’t wanna die yet,”

Tommy clutched onto Tubbo just as tightly, eyes wide as he realized he almost killed two of his friends from yet another stupid mistake. “You’re not gonna die, Tubbo, you can’t… you can’t…”

* * *

Technoblade sighed, his arms crossed as he read the plaques under the trophies. He doubted they were real as the dates were all over the place and all were under different names that he didn’t recognize. The trophies were probably just there to make the room identifiable in case a death happened there. His eyes flicked to the small rack of “prize-winning” fishing rods on the wall next to him, one of them still missing from Punz’s murder.

He still felt guilty for that one, even if it wasn’t his fishing rod that made the killing blow. He still felt somehow responsible...

As he thought to himself, he made sure to keep the door to his back, there was a reason he came here after the sun had finally set and Wilbur drifted off to sleep. The floorboards creaked softly behind him- the telltale sound of someone trying to quietly get behind him. He figured it was only a matter of time before the mastermind came to try and kill him. That _was_ the reason he came here alone.

For a moment- there was only silence. Both parties wondering who would strike first.

The mastermind lunged forward suddenly, breaking the tense silence, their netherrite sword missed Techno’s chest by a hair as the master PvPer dodged to the left, easily pulling his own sword out.

He turned to face his attacker and was shocked by the gloved hand that was suddenly swinging at his face and he didn’t have time to avoid this attack. The fist hit him on the temple, giving him a massive headache and knocking his glasses clean off his face. Techno stumbled back, but kept his sword raised and stayed alert, “Don’t you know it’s not polite to fight dirty?” he snarled and faced his attacker head on, disappointed to find that the mastermind’s face was covered by what looked to be a ski mask- or maybe a beanie with eye holes cut into it? They wore all black, and in the low light Techno couldn’t see his attacker’s eye color. If he survived this encounter, he wouldn’t have any info to give Dream except for the fact that his attacker might have been shorter than him- but it was hard to tell anything without his glasses on.

This time around, Techno made the first move and the two became locked in combat- a scene of swords flashing as they fought back and forth across the room. It was hard to tell who was controlling the fight and who was defending- the mastermind didn’t seem half bad at combat. While they clearly weren’t the best fighter on the planet- they still managed to hold their own against Techno, which was a feat of its own. Not only that, but they seemed to be fighting one handed, the other hand dangling limply beside them.

“You honestly thought you could kill me? It took a hoard of zombies to kill Phil, and I haven’t forgotten that.” Techno growled, his sword hitting his opponent’s with a frightening display of force, “I mean honestly, have you ever heard the phrase ‘Technoblade never dies’?”

The mastermind didn’t respond, they just grimaced as the sword pressed down on them. If their sword wasn’t netherrite- it probably would have snapped from Techno’s raw, brute strength. The mastermind suddenly ducked away from Techno, just barely avoiding a killing blow as Techno’s sword sank into the dark oak table the mastermind had gotten pinned to just moments ago.

“Afraid to respond? Or have you just finally accepted that you can’t beat me.” He slammed an elbow into the mastermind’s face and they stumbled back, dazed. Techno wasn’t dumb, and normally he wouldn’t take advantage of an opponent’s weakness, _but this asshole killed Phil-_ so he was fine with fighting dirty in this time. Techno slammed the pommel of his sword into the Mastermind’s lower arm and caused them to cry out as pain radiated up from their broken wrist all the way up to their shoulder and they dropped their sword as the pain froze all of their instincts; The dark blade was sent clattering across the trophy room floor. Techno’s eyes were cold, he wasn’t even breaking a sweat, it was as if he was playing with the mastermind. Phil once called it “playing with his prey”, which, honestly, wasn’t too far off.

Yet with all of his prodding and insults- the mastermind still didn’t say a word, they just took the verbal assault silently. That only pissed Techno off even more.

“ANSWER ME!”

The mastermind, having taken quite the beating at this point, had fallen to the ground, their muscles screamed and they were only just barely able to hold themselves up. Techno had finally had enough and reached down to grab the mastermind by the shirt and yanked them to their feet, but he wanted to see their face as he killed them. As he got revenge for Phil.

The mask was pulled off in one easy motion, but Techno was not ready for the face that had hidden below it. He dropped the mastermind and took a step back- he thought he was prepared to know their identity, but deep down he really didn’t think it would actually be someone in the group like the mastermind had said.

“I trusted you...”

“-and that was your fatal mistake.”

In his shock, Techno’s reaction time had gone down exponentially and the mastermind took advantage of that. They surged forward, plunging an object deep into Techno’s chest. Techno sucked in a sharp breath at the pain, already knowing the attack was a killing blow. His gaze wandered to the warthog skull that had been mounted on the wall- so that’s why it had been missing one of its tusks. The matching tusk was now plunged deep into his rib cage.

“I... trusted you...” he gurgled as he stumbled back, wrenching the tusk out and letting it drop to the floor, blood filling his punctured lungs. He tripped over his own feet and fell to the ground, but the mastermind managed to catch the falling king- softening the impact. “I’m sorry- I’m so sorry...” the mastermind babbled, holding Techno as he died, “They were supposed to catch me- but everything’s gonna be okay,” they brushed the soft pink hair out of Techno’s eyes, “Everything is gonna be okay... You’ll see,”

They kept rambling even after Techno had finally died, their words meaningless and obsolete. They were risking the Spearhead’s wrath by killing Techno instead of Dream but... Dream was the only one truly capable of figuring out their identity- he just needs some more time and evidence, that’s all. If he hadn’t figured if out from this crime scene, he would figure it out by the time the next murder happened- the mastermind just prayed that they wouldn’t have to complete that death sequence. They weren’t sure if they had the strength for that one.

They had expected Dream to figure this out much earlier, weren’t they being obvious enough? Dream was a legend in Among Us for his way to sus out people for the smallest, most inconsequential things- so why was it taking him so long to figure out the Mastermind’s identity?!

The Mastermind was tired- tired of lying to themself, to the others, to the _monster_ who seemed to constantly be watching. They weren’t sure how long they could keep this charade going- it was only a matter of time before their mask broke and the others saw the killer beneath. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 6/15 alive...
> 
> Oof and another one bites the dust. Hubris can be blinding. Will Dream figure out who's behind this before the mastermind strikes again? The mastermind sure hopes so...
> 
> We're getting down to the finale folks! Only a few more chapters before the Mastermind is revealed, are you all prepared for the truth? Cause I'm certainly not, that's for sure.  
> As always, don't forget to eat some food, drink water, and take your meds!! <3


	29. Hot Fuss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dream has a hunch for who the mastermind is and Wilbur and Tommy discuss Techno's fate...

“You idiot…”

Dream couldn’t help but sigh as he stared down at Techno’s lifeless body. He wished he could say he was surprised, but really? He wasn’t. He knew the minute Phil died that Techno would try to hunt the Mastermind down to get revenge, and to be honest Dream was surprised that it had taken Techno this long. He was, however, surprised to see that Techno had lost the battle though… So surprised that he knew there had to have been foul play, something that had knocked Techno so far-off guard that it would lead to his death.

Technoblade was not an easy opponent to beat. Dream knew that better than anybody- found that out the hard way in Mr. Beast’s arena. Techno had trained for years; he’s considered a legend in the PvP community, and for good reason- he never lost. So how did the mastermind beat them? Dream was the only one who could give Techno a run for his money, and Dream knew damn well that he wasn’t the one who killed Techno- so who did?

He knelt down by Techno’s face and pulled his notebook out of his inventory, doing a quick sketch of how the body looked when he found it. He gently brushed Techno’s bangs out of his face to get a better look at the soft bruise on his temple. It wasn’t a hard hit by the looks of it- probably a surprise attack if Dream had to guess. He spied Techno’s glasses across the room, halfway under a table, and that pretty much confirmed his suspicion. Yet he still had no answer for why the Mastermind used the boar’s tusk instead of their sword, based on the various minor fight wounds on Techno, the Mastermind clearly had their own sword. Unless…

A few feet away from the bloody boar’s tusk, hidden in the shadows of a trophy case, was what looked to be a mask, but why would the mastermind start leaving this kind of evidence behind? He gingerly picked up the mask and looked back towards Techno and the tusk with a frown.

The mask hid their identity, they had a sword, but the killing blow was done with a boar’s tusk. He saw the obvious irony in that death, but how did they manage to distract Techno enough to use such a crude weapon? He gazed back down at the mask and let out a soft laugh,

“So, it is one of us…”

 _Technoblade_ _was slain by ӷ̷̦̗͇̫̩́͗ѕ̴̜̖́̑͂̍̃̐͂̒͋̍̊̏͝Ҕ̷̣̞̥̼͠ӿ̴̧̢̖̰̺̘̝͖̱̣̫̳̝̲͊͑͆̓̒̄̔͘͝͝͝ґ̴̗̩̓͐͆̽̑̾̌̏̅̊͋͘̕̕ѥ̷̺̤̼̗̪̮̣̭͓̎̃͊͜ ̶̢̥͚̹͇̻̠̪̙̩͚̦͓͚̈́́͊́͛͋͑Ҩ̴̠̰̟̘̈́Љ̶̨̫͉̤͖̦̿̈́̔͑̊̄̔̈̕͜͝ ̷̻̦̏̾͛͂͌͂̀̐̈ѝ̵̳̠̌̓̓̒̈̈̀̕ԅ̷̯̟̙̪͕̺͉̪͒Е̶̧̥̘̝̮͍̝̖͙̮̼̦̣̖̔̈̂̂͑̋̈́͊́͆͋̚͠͠ ̴̜̪̮͖̘̳̺̫̠̦̘̰̦̾̏̎̋͋̊͒̏̔̏̎̈͠Қ̸̦̖͍̙̝͛͐̊́͑̽̈͑̌̉̍ѫ̵̥͚̼̘̜̇͘і̷̧̛̜̲̠̩̫̯̇̍̇͗̆̿͋̈́_

Dream watched as the body faded away in a tuft of smoke, leaving only Techno’s crown. He ignored the death message, but he knew that the others would start freaking out the minute it popped up in chat. Dream really didn’t feel like getting shouted at by Wilbur again, plus he needed to do some research to confirm his suspect. From all he had written in his notebook, he was fairly certain he knew the identity of the mastermind, but he was still floundering on their motive- and the motive was just as important as the identity, as it could implicate which one out of the three it truly was.

Dream just had to hope the Mastermind wouldn’t strike again before he had confirmed his suspicions, though he was certain the Mastermind would probably try to kill once more before the jig was up.

He stared down at Techno’s crown and sighed, “I’m sorry, for what it’s worth… I should have tried harder- shouldn’t have listened to George and Sapnap- but I guess it’s too late for apologies now, huh? I hope that wherever you are now, it’s better than here. Good luck, Tech…”

He left the trophy room with the door open, Wilbur and Tommy deserved the closure that the crown would bring, even if the healing process couldn’t come about that fast. He wished he could stick around to help them but… he had work to do.

* * *

“God _DAMMIT!!”_

Tubbo flinched as Wilbur’s hand slammed onto the table, watching Wilbur pace throughout the library with wide eyes, he’d never seen Wilbur get this… unhinged. Even after Eret’s betrayal in the War for Independence, Wilbur had been sad, upset, and lost- but he had never gotten this angry. At least, Tubbo had never seen him get this angry. He glanced over at Niki, who seemed to be equally as shocked as him, her eyes wide and hands fidgeting in her lap, unsure what to do. Tommy, meanwhile, had gotten up to try and calm Wilbur down- trying his best to not argue or raise his voice. Tubbo shifted over to Niki.

“Have you ever seen him get this angry? Like when you were kids?”

Her voice was soft and almost sad, her eyes never leaving her President. “Well…” Tubbo sighed, glancing over to Phil’s hat on the mantle, “I’m not really sure, to be honest… Phil took me in when Wil was already an adult, so other than some pretty heated shouting matches with Tommy- no, I haven’t…” his gaze turned back to his brothers, “Phil said that Wilbur and Techno used to get in some pretty bad fights, but by the time Phil took me in, Techno had already left to ‘conquer the world’.” He explained, trying to take her mind off of the reality of their situation.

“…Do you think they’re really gone?” Tubbo followed Niki’s gaze to the mantle and felt the mood drop once again as her voice shakily reached his ears again. “Well, do you mean that in a real-life way or like a religious kind of way?” He tried to joke, but it was clear that Niki wasn’t appreciating it, “…Right, well… I think if they could have respawned, they would have by now, right?” he sighed and tucked his knees up to his chest, “but I like to think that they never really leave us? I mean… I guess, its kind of like how they’re always in our hearts, but I also like to think that they’re watching over us right now… Though it kind of sounds stupid when I say that out loud… ” his voice became softer, but he gave her a small smile. She took a deep breath, as if releasing a large weight that had been on her shoulders, “Yeah… yeah I guess you’re right,” she glanced back over at Tommy and Wilbur, preparing herself to go to and intervene, “I hope you don’t lose any more family, Tubbo…”

“I mean, come on!! His whole thing is ‘Technoblade never dies’, I’ve never even seen the guy fail outside of training- and even that is rare! How can you tell me that he’s actually dead?!” Before Tubbo could respond to Niki’s odd comment, Wilbur suddenly shouted at Tommy. The two’s conversation had only been ramping up in emotion, so Tubbo wasn’t too shocked to hear them shouting at each other, but he knew he should help Niki in breaking it up.

“Yeah, well I didn’t think it was possible either, dickhead, but here we are!” Tommy snapped in Wilbur’s face, “You want me to go out and find his stupid memento?! We’re dropping like flies, why can’t you see that?!” he turned away to rake his hands through his hair in frustration. “You think I _can’t_ see that?! After all we’ve lost, you think I can’t see that?! Trying to escape isn’t going to help us! The only thing that will help is catching the asshole behind this!!” Wilbur argued right back, forcing Tommy to look at him.

“We haven’t found them yet! What makes you think we’ll suddenly find them now that they’ve killed Techno!” Tommy pushed Wilbur’s hand off his shoulder, “We have a better chance of trying to break into the code of the server! Tubbo and I are pretty good at coding, Dream is too! With all three of us working on it and sticking together, the mastermind won’t be able to attack us!” Tommy tried to appeal to his older brother.

“You aren’t listening!! You never listen! The Mastermind promised that if we figure out their identity, we’ll get free from this hellhole!” Wilbur groaned, “Why do you have to be this insufferable?!” Niki tried to get Wilbur to stop, physically putting herself between the two brits. “Oh, and you just trust the sociopathic murderer?! And _I’m_ the one not listening? I dunno how you’ve lived this long being this much of an IDIOT!!!”

“Tommy! You are taking this too far!” Niki suddenly interrupted, giving a glare to Wilbur, as if daring him to try and continue the argument. “ _I’m_ taking this too far?! At least I’m the one being practical here!” Tommy snapped back at Niki. “Tommy, I think that’s enough…” Tommy jumped as Tubbo came up beside him, “Neither of you want to listen to each other right now, so you aren’t gonna get very far,” he said softly. There was a moment where the room was just filled with a tense silence, Wilbur and Tommy having an intense stare down as they debated whether or not they were going to listen to the voices of reason.

Finally, Wilbur let out a frustrated sigh and stormed out of the room, Niki following close behind, flashing an appreciative look to Tubbo before they left. She had to work to keep up with Wil as he strode angrily down the hall, his longer legs letting him move a lot faster than her.

Tommy paused as he watched Wilbur storm out, the color draining from his face and all of his anger dissipated within an instant. _What if this was the last time he’d see Wil?_

“Wilbur, wait!!”

“Tommy we aren’t having this conversation aga- OOF!”

Wilbur had the breath knocked out of him as Tommy suddenly crashed into him, arms wrapping tightly around Wilbur’s torso and face buried in his chest- Wilbur could feel him shaking like a leaf. “’m sorry, you aren’t an idiot or a dickhead- well you might be a dickhead sometimes, but… please don’t leave…” Tommy mumbled in his chest, clinging on to his older brother for dear life, “I know I’m stubborn and hot headed and I have a hard time listening sometimes, but I’ll do things your way, I promise just- please, please don’t leave me, not like Phil and Techno, I can’t do this without you, I’m sorry for what I said I just-“ Tommy kept rambling, all of his emotions spilling over the edge and finally coming out into the light. “Tommy, hey, Tommy it’s okay- take a deep breath- I’m not gonna leave you…” Wilbur carefully returned Tommy’s hug, resting a protective hand on the back of Tommy’s head, “That’s what Phil said too and now he’s gone! I’m sorry, okay? I’m sorry for always being uncooperative and stupid and never listening to you- I just think you’re really cool and I admire you a bunch and-“

“Tommy, you don’t have to apologize for anything, I know that you never mean any ill will, you don’t have to apologize cause I’ve already forgiven you… you’re my brother, Tommy.” Wil said softly and Tommy choked out a laugh, “Don’t say that, I will cry,” he mumbled through his tears, the inside joke causing both of them to laugh. “Gods, you’ve made me cry now, you child,” Wilbur teased fondly, using his sleeves to wipe the tears off his cheeks. The two fell into somewhat of a comfortable silence, enjoying what felt like one last hug between the two of them- though neither of them could accept that it might be goodbye, some things could be left unsaid.

“Did you wanna go find Techno’s memento?” Wilbur broke the silence with a gentle voice, letting Tommy be the one to break the hug. Tommy let out a big sigh and stepped back from Wilbur slightly, instead taking the older player’s hand in a tight grip, then nodded slightly, “Phil would probably be lonely if we didn’t put it on the mantle next to him…” he rasped, wiping the tears off his face, “Don’t you dare tell Tubbo or Niki that I cried, alright? Big men don’t cry…” the two of them started to walk slowly down the hall, checking the different rooms for Techno’s iconic crown. “Y’know, it’s okay to cry, Tommy. Just ‘cause toxic masculinity says you can’t cry doesn’t mean you should listen- it’s healthy to get your emotions out.” Wilbur reminded him with a teasing lilt to his voice, “…but I promise not to tell them, if that’s what you want…” Wilbur’s voice trailed off as he spotted the open door to the trophy room, a familiar glint catching his eyes as his stomach dropped. He gave a light squeeze to Tommy’s hand and the two fell back into a silence. Wilbur lead the way to the room, letting Tommy stand outside while Wil gently picked up the crown and practically cradled it in one arm, keeping the other arm free for Tommy to hold on to.

The trek back to the living room was a quiet one, neither of them having the energy to speak until they brought the memento back to the mantle. Tommy stepped back to watch with Tubbo as Wilbur gently nestled the crown next to Phil’s bucket hat, and for a moment Wilbur couldn’t help but imagine his beanie finishing off the trifecta on the mantle. Well… at least it would be a matching Sleepy Boy set.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 6/15 alive...
> 
> Tried to make this chapter a little bit less angsty to give you guys a break, but next chapter will definitely give you guys some hope for a good ending-... we hope...  
> Sorry for being late by the way!! January was a really sucky month and I got total writing block unfortunately, but I think I've overcome it, so we should be good!!
> 
> As always, don't forget to be safe, drink some water, eat some food, and don't forget to take your meds!!  
> Love y'all and talk to you again soon! <3


	30. Just a Little Chunk of Hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skeppy's excursion to the basement...

Skeppy swore when he figured out the secret behind this basement and Dream caught the Mastermind, he would burn the whole Mansion to the ground- that’s how much he hated it. He had spent a few hours trying to make a map so that he could navigate it with at least _some_ accuracy, but after the basement changed up on him more times than he could count- he gave up on that plan.

If he was being honest with himself, he didn’t even know what he was doing down here- other than the stupid pull he felt and the Mastermind’s urging for him to go. The logical part of his brain told him this was all some giant trap and he was an idiot for coming back down here, but the other part of his brain was just too damn curious and had kind of given up hope in winning the stupid “game”, so why not find all the easter eggs, right? What else was there for him to do? He wasn’t nearly clever enough to figure out the identity of the Mastermind and he didn’t really care to know their motive- that was for Dream to figure out. Not him.

He had finally made his way back to the oak plank hallway after six wrong turns, and this time he was absolutely determined to investigate each and every room, there was something in here that the basement didn’t want him to find; He was going to find its secret whether it liked it or not.

He had seen the furnace room, the crafting room, hell he’d even seen a room made out of ice in this hallway, but he had yet to find something worth hiding. He assumed it was going to be another armor stand room- before the others started dying, they had told him and the other players what all they had seen. One of those things was a armor stand room in the oak hallway, supposedly showing a duel between two players and one of them had a sword stuck in his gut. Skeppy had quickly decided that he wanted to see _that_ with his own eyes. After all, this was all a game, right? So why should he care about how the rest of the living were gonna die?

“Ugh okay, that’s a bit of a macabre thought…” he muttered to himself as he found yet another dusty, cobweb filled room, the sixteenth once he had found thus far- he had gotten so bored he was starting to keep a mental log of how many times he had “discovered” a type of room. Thus far he had found twelve crafting rooms, twenty-six smelting rooms, eight chest rooms, and seven “vibe check” rooms- those were the weird as shit rooms that would catch him off guard. He hadn’t decided whether or not armor stand rooms should be put in their own categories or if they should go under the Vibe Check category- he figured he’d decide that when he found one, which would be sooner rather than later.

He stopped dead in the oak hallway as he exited the ninth chest room, now greeted with a long and ominous hallway that ended in a single room. Unlike the rest of the doors, which had been simple oak ones, this door was made of dark oak- with the bronze door handle giving off a weird gleam. “Well that doesn’t look ominous at all…” he mumbled sarcastically as he cautiously walked to the door, not noticing the way the temperature rose the closer he got, “What the hell are you hiding?” he stopped before the door and rested his hand on the handle, but quickly let go as pain surged through his hand, “What the fuck?! Why are you so hot?!” he cursed as he assessed the damage, glad he didn’t get third degree burns from the stupid thing. He frowned, then after a small silence he took his beanie off and rested it on the handle,

“A bit of heat is not gonna stop me from seeing what you’re hiding.” He said with a quiet determination and quickly turned the handle- his beanie protecting his hand from the heat this time around. As the door swung open, he was greeted with a blast of hot air, the room inside seemingly caught in a burning inferno. He took a step back in shock, squinting as his eyes got used to the light. “Is this…?” 

The room inside looked almost identical from the oak hallway armor stand room that had been described to him, except this time the two armor stands were surrounded with fire, the one stand still being impaled with- a netherrite sword? Wasn’t it supposed to be a wooden sword? Why did it change??

Skeppy wanted to continue investigating it, but the wood above the scene creaked dangerously and he knew it was bound to collapse any moment and he really didn’t want to be caught in that. He slammed the door shut and grabbed his beanie before stumbling back a few paces, his breathing quickened as the adrenaline only just then started to fade.

“Safe to say that’s considered a Vibe Check room…” he chuckled nervously to himself as he brushed the soot off of his shirt and pulled his beanie back on. He let out a shaky breath and turned his back on the room, waiting for the basement to change up- he’d gotten pretty good at predicting when it would change up on him.

At least, that’s what he thought.

When he turned back to where the room used to be, he was greeted with the cavern that haunted his dreams- the two tunnels. One arched with birch wood and the other arched with obsidian. Ever since he first came across these two tunnels they had stayed in the back of his head, constantly nagging him about the possibilities of where the obsidian tunnel would lead him- but he always refused to come back and check. Then Bad died, and he really didn’t have anything stopping him from coming down to look at it… so why was he hesitating?

Skeppy went to turn back to the oak hallway, sure that he would continue exploring and finding the other armor stand rooms, but upon turning around he found only a blank stone wall. It seemed as though the basement was not going to let him off so easily. He sighed, shoulders slumping and stomach filling with dread as he turned back to the two tunnels. The birch tunnel was no longer as inviting as it was before, all of the lights seemingly snuffed out- which left only the obsidian tunnel- a soft blue glow emanating from deep within.

“God dammit… I guess I can’t avoid this for any longer, huh?” He asked to no one in particular, but still felt a bit surprised when he didn’t receive an answer. He grabbed a soul torch from a nearby sconce and hesitantly made his way down the obsidian path, feeling as though he was descending into the depths of the earth, the slope down feeling unending. The temperature was steadily dropping as he got further and further down causing him to pull his sweatshirt farther around himself to try and block out the chill. The eerie cave sounds seemed to increase in severity as well, which of course did nothing to soothe Skeppy’s nerves, but he had already come this far and wasn’t willing to go back now.

Then it all just… stopped.

One moment he was walking in the creepy cold tunnel, and then it all just stopped. The temperature went back up to normal and the cave sounds all but disappeared, Skeppy almost swore he could hear the sound of ocean waves off in the distance. Along with the sound of voices? He frowned at this, pausing at the bottom of the decline and pinching himself to make sure he wasn’t dreaming, though at this point he more thought he had finally gone insane. As he walked further down the tunnel, the sconces seemed to pop back up, this time feeling warm and inviting- unlike the soul sconces he had seen at the top of the tunnel.

“This can’t be real…” he mumbled to himself as he walked by numerous obsidian jail cells. Yet he wasn’t interested in the jail cells- no, the thing that caught his attention was the solid cube of bedrock at the end of the room, along with the natural light spilling out of a large bay window. The window confused him more than the bedrock did, they were hundreds of blocks down, right? How could there be natural light streaming in?

That’s when he heard voices again, and more than just voices- he heard _laughter_ \- coming from the bedrock cube. He approached it slowly, almost positive he had gone crazy at this point, but there was a small chest sitting at the corner of the bedrock cube. All it held was a simple lever.

Skeppy looked back up at the cube- he had played far too many puzzle maps with Bad to not figure this out- and it wasn’t even much of a challenge. There was only one sconce on the wall of bedrock- a soul sconce- which clearly was an indicator of something. So, he tested his luck and placed it on the wall, taking a deep breath and then flipping the lever.

The voices stopped and went silent as a sticky piston pulled the bedrock open and revealed the room inside. The torch Skeppy had been holding dropped to the floor with a dull thud.

“…Bad?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 6/15 alive...?
> 
> A bit of a short chapter, but I wanted this one to stand alone from all the other perspectives- plus I felt like you guys needed the little ray of hope this chapter might have provided ;)  
> As always, don't forget to eat some food, drink some water, and take your meds! Love y'all!! <3


	31. Jubilee Line

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wilbur and Niki go to the library to look up some research for Dream and end up finding some things they really shouldn't have seen.

"So, why are we going to the library?” Niki asked as she followed Wilbur through the twisting hallways of the manor. “Tommy said something about helping Dream do some research? He said there were some books that should be useful in here, so he asked us to check the big library while he checked the small library above the living room.” Wilbur explained with a yawn, he hadn’t gotten that much sleep recently and was starting to feel its effects more and more with each passing day. Niki frowned at this, “What kind of information are we going to find about the Mastermind in his own library?” She asked skeptically.

Wilbur shrugged as he held open one of the double doors for her, “Not sure, to be honest. I think it’s a wild goose chase set up by Dream so he can question the boys without us present, but Tommy said something about looking up the local myths in this region and looking up the architect or building plans of the mansion.” He mused, following her into the history section of the library. Frankly, he was shocked the Mastermind even let the books in the books in the history section stay- especially the local history section. So while she flipped through the collection of blue prints and local maps, he busied himself with looking through the various history books.

“Do we even know what region we’re in?” Niki asked, frowning as she flicked through the archive, “Because I’m finding maps from like every server I could possibly think of. I mean, whoever this mastermind is even has a map of the Dream SMP- and as far as I can tell, it’s a current map.” She pulled it out and set it down on the floor for both of them to see, “I mean, it even has that drug alley Tommy made right before we were taken from the server. How can the map be that recent?”

“Wait what?” Wilbur frowned and put the book he was flipping through back onto the shelf, he joined her on the floor and looked over the map, “Okay, that’s really weird…” he admitted, “It even has buildings I haven’t made yet- I mean I already have the building plans, but I haven’t even told Tommy about that…” his hands drifted over the area just outside of L’manberg’s walls where an election podium had been set up, “That’s impossible- how would anyone know about that?” Niki followed his gaze with curiosity, but then looked over the rest of the map for any more inconsistencies.

“Hey, Wil?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you know what… p-… Pog-topia is?” She had trouble pronouncing the weird word but pointed to the small map marker in the middle of the woods outside of L’manberg. Wilbur looked confused at this and stared at the marker with her, “No? That’s… weird though… It reminds me of- …no, uh never mind.” He quickly looked away and went back to looking through the shelves. “…Wil? What is it?” she slowly rose to her feet, but kept a tight hold on the map. Wilbur tried to ignore her, tried to keep looking through the books, but he had to admit the weird marker freaked him out. He sighed and finally turned back to her, “It’s… It’s probably nothing, but… Well, before we made L’manberg, we talked about moving to the middle of nowhere and building a cottage- just me, Tubbo, and Tommy… and before we came up with L’manberg, we almost called it Mantopia…”

“Wait, but doesn’t that insinuate you guys abandon L’manberg?” Niki asked softly, trying to keep the heartbreak from her voice. “No! We would never!! I love L’Manberg! I would never willingly leave!” He tried to assure her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder, but he wasn’t confident in his answer. He glanced back down at the map, easing it out of her hands to look at it even closer. That’s when he noticed it was shifting and changing like ripples on a lake, sometimes the podium was there surrounded by various little stands and sometimes the only thing there was a crater. Sometimes L’Manberg wasn’t even there, just the plain woods that had been there right before Wilbur joined the server. Sometimes the map was just… blank.

“Niki? Could you do me a favor and see if the blueprints for the mansion are in that drawer?” He asked slowly, stretching the map back across the floor to study it closer- wracking his brain for any useful information applicable to their situation. She gave him a curious look but sighed and nodded, “I’ll try my best…” she conceded and went back to flipping through the drawers of maps and files.

“Why would the Mastermind need a map of the DreamSMP if he was from the DreamSMP?” He mused softly to himself, glancing at the other maps that Niki had strewn across the floor. There was a map of SMPEarth, of SMPLive, hell the Mastermind even had a map of Hermitcraft’s latest world. If this was just some killing game devised by someone from the DreamSMP, why would they need so many different maps? Wilbur was pretty sure he had even seen maps from back in the days of Skydoesminecraft and Stampycat, some of the maps were even older than that. Not only that but these maps seemed to be enchanted to show the futures and the pasts of the servers.

“That would mean… but- there’s no way-”

"No, this shouldn't be possible- I mean I am literally watching these schematics and maps show me events that haven't happened yet. Maps don't do this." Niki suddenly protested, taking a few steps back away from the file cabinet she had been seated by. "Basements don't randomly change up on people either, yet we all saw how the walls and exits would change when we weren't looking..." Wilbur's voice was low as he carefully folded the map back up and put it back into the cabinet, treating it as if it was a ticking time bomb, "We all knew something was... off with this place, but this is going beyond weird. You’re gonna think I’m crazy, but remember that one my-"

Wilbur was cut off by the sound of breaking glass on the floor above them, reminiscent of the sound a splash potion made. Niki flashed a concerned look at him as he motioned for her to get down and stay quiet. He carefully put the book he was flipping through back onto the shelf and started to creep forward into the center of the library, hoping to see whoever was spying on them before they saw him. Wilbur motioned for Niki to move back into the shadows- even though the person above them had probably already heard her. 

For a moment, the library was silent, a few boards creaked here and there, but the tense silence around them was almost deafening. Then, just as Wilbur thought he caught a glimpse of their spy, a flaming arrow whizzed by his face. He gasped and went to look at the person who shot the arrow- but was distracted by a sound that somehow felt familiar… It was the hiss of something…

The thought struck him with horror.

_It was TnT._

“GET DOWN!” He shouted to Niki and dove towards the other side of the library, trying his best to avoid the blast. The shockwave caused him to slam into a set of shelves, causing his head to spin, and when he finally gained his bearings all he could see was _fire_. The explosion had set the library ablaze and had split Niki and himself apart with a wall of flame.

“NIKI?!”

“WIL!!”

Niki coughed through the smoke; her lungs felt as though they were on fire. She couldn’t see a thing through the flames and haze of smoke all around them, despite the blaze being ignited by TnT it seemed to have gone up alarmingly fast. She tried to make her way to the door, she wasn’t that far away from it and if she could just manage to get out then she could get the others to help her rescue Wil. She didn’t want to leave him, she didn’t even want to stop shouting for him, but she knew she couldn’t help him alone.

_It was never meant to be._

Despite the flames, Niki felt herself shiver as those words flashed through her mind, spoken with her own voice. She swore she could feel the weight of flint and steel in her hand and the silhouette of a burning tree seemed to be burned into the back of her brain. She squeezed her eyes shut as the bolt of fear surged through her body, the crackling books around her doing nothing to distract her from that energy. She’d seen plenty of trees get burnt down- why did that specific one cause her heart to shatter?

Mere moments later, the feeling seemed to stop and she snapped back into reality as a burning beam nearly crushed her. This spurred her back into action, dodging blazing bookshelves as she made her way to the front doors, only for her heart to seize up in fear.

The normal oak wooden doors that had closed the library off from the hallway was no longer there- no, those sturdy oak doors had been replaced with solid iron doors, locking them out from freedom. She moved to test the lock but cried out in pain the moment her hands touched the handle, the handles searing her hands from their heat. They were so hot the handles practically glowed in the lowlight. She stumbled back away from the door, cradling her burnt hand close to her chest as she tried to find another way out- the couldn’t die here, no- no she refused to die like this! She squinted as she saw a figure through the smoke, their form familiar but not at the same time. They stepped through the flames as if it were nothing, orange particles coming off their body as they got closer and closer. She coughed again, the smoke already suffocating her and making her dizzy.

“Wil? Is that you…? Wait- no, not you- NO, WAIT, PLEASE-!!”

Despite the scorching heat, Wilbur’s blood turned ice cold as he heard Niki scream, her words suddenly cutting off in a guttural scream. In the dark smoke and embers of the burning library- he couldn’t find her. He was afraid the Mastermind found her first. He coughed and braced himself on one of the only bookcases not engulfed in flames, the oxygen was getting burned up at an alarmingly fast rate and he couldn’t seem to find any clean air- or any exit for that matter.

He pushed off the bookcase with another rattling cough, covering his mouth with his sleeve in an attempt to purify the air, to give him more time. He shuffled weakly through the burning room, dodging the holes in the wooden floors, in an attempt to try and find Niki- or at least find the exit. All he found was obsidian, which only served to piss him off more- he refused to let himself die in a fire- if he was gonna die it had to be ironic, right? What sort of irony was there in him burning to death?!

His thoughts slammed back to reality as he felt himself trip over something on the floor, probably a fallen bookcase, but for some reason he decided to look back. He wished he didn’t. Lying there, on the ash covered floor, was the lifeless body of Niki, and if it weren’t for the obvious stab wound in her torso, it would have looked like she was just sleeping.

Wilbur stared at the body in abject horror, stumbling back away from it with a hand clamped over his mouth in shock. The lifeless form of Niki Nihachu disappeared in the smoke and ash as the reality of their situation finally hit Wilbur. He knew his death would probably happen sooner rather than later, but Niki? No, no she wasn’t- he told himself he wouldn’t let her, Tommy, or Tubbo die! He couldn’t fail them- couldn’t fail again…

The sound of pistons behind him broke the train of thoughts that had spiraled out of control inside his brain. He turned slowly, his executioner silhouetted by the flames that raged around them and the world seemed to melt away as horror and anger filled Wilbur’s face. The Mastermind had pulled the mask off of his head, but even if he hadn’t, Wilbur would have known exactly who they were. Wilbur had seen this person enough to know them even with a mask covering his features. The netherrite sword, still covered in Niki’s blood, shook in the Mastermind’s hands as he tried to blink away tears, true sorrow clear across his face.

Wilbur’s mind went through a whirlwind of different emotions, unable to just settle on one of them. He felt betrayal rising up the back of his throat like bile, he felt like his whole world had been torn open under his feet and he couldn’t help but remember the Final Control Room.

It couldn’t be him. It could be _anyone_ just not _him_. This had to be a trick, yet another hallucination from this mansion or maybe the mansion was haunted and would show him his greatest fears? …That didn’t help much though, as he was still staring at his worst nightmare.

The worst possible ending of his story.

“I-… how could you...? I trusted you…”

Fuck. He really should have stopped listening to Hamilton.

How did they phrase it?

Ah yes.

_My time’s up._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 4/15 Alive...?
> 
> I would like to apologize to y'all in advance for this chapter, but I promise it won't get any worse than this! Though I know y'all won't believe me, I can at least try '^^  
> I'd love to see who you think would make Wilbur react that badly. I was gonna actually reveal who it was, but my writing buddy decided that I should torture y'all for just one more chapter and I can't say no to her XD
> 
> Anyways, don't forget to eat some food, drink some water, and don't forget to take your meds and wear a mask!! <3


	32. We Didn't Start the Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Mastermind looks back at how they got here.

June 10th, 2020, two months before the Game.

_“Did you really think you could kill me?”_

“That was quite easy, innit?” Tommy joked as he sat outside the sprawling mansion in front of him that he and Tubbo had just cleared. “Didn’t seem like he was really that much of a fight, to be honest. I mean, Woodland Mansions are more difficult than this! And that’s saying something!” Tubbo said as he finished trading rotten flesh with Viktor, the map’s key NPC, admiring the Diamond Helmet he got in return for it. Tommy laid back in the grass outside of Viktor’s shack and laughed at Tubbo’s comment.

“Yeah, ў̴̩̱̓́̆̕e̵̩̟͂ͅЬ̸̏̀͜ӡ̶̜͜͠ї̶͕̥̦͂̆̏О̷̺͐͘̕Ԙ̴̨̤̻̘̍̇͛͆Ӧ̷̡̤̠͈̅̍̌͝, you hear that? You’re a bitch!” He shouted towards the mansion, causing both to break down into a giggling fit. “Don’t you think that’s bad luck? I mean we are talking about ў̴̩̱̓́̆̕e̵̩̟͂ͅЬ̸̏̀͜ӡ̶̜͜͠ї̶͕̥̦͂̆̏О̷̺͐͘̕Ԙ̴̨̤̻̘̍̇͛͆Ӧ̷̡̤̠͈̅̍̌͝ after all.” Tubbo wiped a tear from his eye as the giggling finally started to recede. “Nah, this is just some adventure map, Tubbo, it’s not like _he_ has any real power. He’s just some AI that Hypixel designed, nothing more and nothing less.” Tommy shrugged as Tubbo finished up his trades with Viktor, “You all ready to go back to the SMP?”

“Yeah! I’ll be right there-“

Tubbo was cut off as he turned to leave, a cold hand snatching him by his wrist as the door slammed shut, “What-?“ he froze with fear as he turned back to Viktor. The NPC had broken from his code and was clutching tightly onto Tubbo’s wrist, “You have to apologize- if you do, he won’t come after you, but you have to apologize or make tribute.” Viktor’s voice was filled with static as he broke from the script, his eyes wide and fearful. Tubbo tried to pull his arm free, but Viktor’s grip was ironclad,

“How are you even doing this? You shouldn’t be able to break from your script!” Tubbo protested in a small, fear filled voice. Viktor only ignored this comment, “Not many people can manage to beat him, it shouldn’t be possible. I don’t know how you did it- but this isn’t the end. He’ll come after you if you don’t apologize for intruding-“ Viktor tried to assert, his voice filling with more and more static the longer he spoke. The grip tightened on his wrist, “You’re hurting me! Just let go!” Tubbo was getting more and more scared, managing to keep his voice down so as not to alert Tommy, “ў̴̩̱̓́̆̕e̵̩̟͂ͅЬ̸̏̀͜ӡ̶̜͜͠ї̶͕̥̦͂̆̏О̷̺͐͘̕Ԙ̴̨̤̻̘̍̇͛͆Ӧ̷̡̤̠͈̅̍̌͝ is just a story, nothing more!” Viktor suddenly straightened and let him go, taking a step back, “If you think he’s just a story, then you’re already done for. Good luck, Tubbo Underscore. I hope he doesn’t destroy your life.”

As Viktor spoke, Tubbo kept backing up with wide eyes, watching as the code slowly reclaimed Viktor’s character. His back hit the door a few moments later and he wasted no time in ripping it open and running outside. He crashed straight into Tommy, who had been making his way towards the shack to investigate the slammed door, and Tommy quickly caught him and steadied them so they wouldn’t fall, “Whoa, big man, what’s got you in such a hurry?” Tommy’s voice was lighthearted, but Tubbo could see the genuine concern written all over his face. “It’s… it’s nothing- it’s just…” Tubbo looked back to the mansion, feeling as though just the image of it was burned into his eyes, “I think this map is getting to me, that’s all…” he mumbled, feeling as though they were being watched. “Alright, big man, I think this video really wiped you out, let’s head back home, okay?” Tommy spoke slowly, making sure to give Tubbo’s hand a comforting squeeze.

“What happened to going back to the SMP?” Tubbo’s voice shook as they headed back to the teleport. “We can go there if you want, but Wil said he was going home to have dinner with Phil and Kristin and I’m sure they’d want to hear our stories from today, don’t you?” Tommy grinned, already typing in the ip address to the Sleepy Boys private server. Tubbo tried to hide his relief, “Yeah, yeah I think that’d be a great idea…”

As Tubbo waited for the teleporter to connect him to the server, he couldn’t help but think he could see a pair of eyes staring at him from the woods, flashing white in the low light, and he didn’t think his problems would stop here…

* * *

A month later, Tubbo had received a book in his home, at first, he didn’t think much of it- figuring it was some prank from Dream or Sapnap in preparation for the War. After all, nothing else seemed to be amiss in his house, it was just some creepy book… that he found on top of a gold block… surrounded by redstone torches… definitely not some ominous book there to ruin his life… definitely not that…

The book sat unopened in his inventory for a few days. He had torn down the gold block and torches so as not to alert Wilbur or Tommy, but he just couldn’t bring himself to open the damn thing. He knew he shouldn’t be afraid of just a stupid book, but… well he couldn’t stop thinking about the interaction he had with Viktor and the grim warning that had been instilled in his head…

He broke down and finally read it the day he and Eret started building the walls sitting on top of the wool while he watched the sun set over the SMP.

“ _Tubbo Underscore. You aren’t much of a listener, are you? Not only did I warn you about your foolish actions at my manor, but that fool Viktor warned you too, directly violating my commands. I took care of him, though, not to worry. The funny thing is, I had plans to do the same thing to you and your little ‘friend’ Tommyinnit, but then I realized just who you two are._

_Your little DreamSMP has gotten quite popular hasn’t it? Dare I say, it’s as popular as the fools who inhabited this place not eight years ago. You’re very lucky you are a part of this, and you’re very lucky that I still have mercy after all these years. So, my wish is simple- well, I suppose it’s more of a command since you really have no choice in this matter._

_You, Tubbo Underscore, will **kill** the other members of this server. Only fourteen need die, and I will be kind and let you choose which one you want to live and as long as you follow my command, I will protect your Chosen Survivor. _

_If you decide you want to defy this command, I will kill each and every member on this server myself and force you to watch and live with the guilt that **you** could have let one live._

_I expect your answer in two weeks’ time._

_I am up for… negotiation…_

_Make your choice wisely._

_-_ _ў̴̩̱̓́̆̕e̵̩̟͂ͅЬ̸̏̀͜ӡ̶̜͜͠ї̶͕̥̦͂̆̏О̷̺͐͘̕Ԙ̴̨̤̻̘̍̇͛͆Ӧ̷̡̤̠͈̅̍̌͝_ ”

A few days later, Tubbo found himself standing in front of the very mansion he and Tommy had “cleared” a month earlier. The very mansion he had been having nightmares over. After a day and a half of “negotiations”, Tubbo managed to convince the Spearhead to “make the action more entertaining”. He hated saying the Spearhead’s real name, it always made him feel like they would show up any minute, so he had started to call them “The Spearhead”.

So now, instead of outright killing all of his friends, he would be forcing them into the very mansion he had just left and planning out a murder mystery game of sorts. Thanks to the L’Manberg “plot” of the DreamSMP, Tubbo had gotten pretty good at acting and thus managed to actually convince the Spearhead that he saw this “command” as a good thing and that he had been _waiting_ for a chance to permakill the others on the server. A sort of payback for underestimating him, he explained.

Thankfully, the Spearhead was completely on board with the game, mainly because Tubbo had promised the deaths would be “ironic and gory”. This gave him some more time to prepare, coding couldn’t be done overnight, after all.

It took him a month to prepare the mansion and to transfer the map onto a new server, specifically a Hardcore server. During that month, he frequently went behind the Spearhead’s back to edit the code of the server, changing the base fundamentals of the game in small, almost undetectable ways, but ways that would change the game in _very_ important ways. During all of this, he also had to deal with the DreamSMP, more specifically: The Revolution.

He didn’t get much sleep then.

Thinking back on the Revolution- Eret’s betrayal was probably where things started to go downhill for him. It was around that time when he had just started planning everyone’s deaths and where they would happen, and in his frustration from the betrayal he made the deaths a bit more personal than he meant to. He told himself that it was just because he was tired, both from the lack of sleep and the mask he had to wear in front of his friends, but in reality, he got a bit more emotional than he should have. Frankly, he was kinda glad Tommy accidentally killed Eret when he did because the death he had planned for Eret was… well, a bit overkill…

The deadline he had been given was exactly one month after his talk with the Spearhead- on that day the fourteen people he chose would be teleported to the Hardcore server along with himself and the game would be afoot. The teleport would happen whether the server was ready or not.

That’s why it was so important to him that Dream had to be the last one into the server. Tubbo liked to say he knew Dream pretty well, the Speedrunner had always helped him and Tommy whenever they needed it, and he always made sure they were okay after any intense lore sessions. Dream was a genuinely nice guy- but that wasn’t the reason that Tubbo decided to fixate on him. No. He might have chosen Tommy to be the one to live through the game, but Dream was the one who would let the others live through the game. He left deliberate and specific clues for Dream to find, the Manhunts had gotten Dream to notice the little things and those skills would help Dream discern Tubbo’s identity. That was the key.

The Spearhead _promised_ that if the players of their game identified Tubbo as the Mastermind that he would let everyone else go free. They had a _deal._ So if Tubbo wanted all of his friends to be safe, he had to make sure Dream had all the tools he needed to figure out Tubbo’s identity.

He had gotten _so close_.

* * *

One day before the Fire

“Come on, _come on!”_ Tubbo mumbled angrily to himself has he flicked through the books in the library, specifically the books in the history section. There were only five Greek history books in the library, he had left clues in two of these books- actually they were less clues and more full confessions. They had been hastily written, but Tubbo wanted this “game” to be over as soon as possible.

His heart stopped when he noticed the notes were completely untouched from where he left them. “No… nonononono, no!! Why hasn’t he-? I thought it was so obvious!” the book shook in his hands, he didn’t have much time left- if Dream hadn’t found these, that would mean-

“Made what obvious?”

Tubbo froze, the voice sending chills down his spine. He didn’t want to face the Spearhead- he wasn’t sure how much longer he could do this… “M-make it obvious that… they wouldn’t make it out of this server alive…” He winced, knowing that his excuse was weak, but he was just so _tired_ of lying. “Is that so? Then why don’t you look me in the eyes and say it again…” The Spearhead’s voice was low and he gripped Tubbo’s shoulder and forced him to turn around and face him, “You aren’t trying to trick me, are you?” they stared down at Tubbo, practically towering over the young player.

“N-no! I would never! It’s not even possible to trick you!” Tubbo grimaced as the Spearhead’s fingers dug into his shouder, biting down on his cheek to keep himself from crying out, “I want this to be finished, just like you do!” He tried to pacify the Spearhead. The Spearhead’s grip didn’t lighten, “Really? I don’t believe you…” his grip tightened further and Tubbo swore he heard a crack. “Please!! I promise!” He cried out, his knees buckling under him. The Spearhead let go and let Tubbo fall to the floor, “Do you? Then prove it. This room is lined in obsidian. Kill the tall one and the baker here, tonight. Set the place alight and let them burn. Then I’ll believe you.”

“B-both? But what happened to the plans-“

The Spearhead grabbed Tubbo by his shirt and dragged him up to his feet, forcing Tubbo to look into his eyes, “Did. I. Stutter.” He snarled slowly. The tone caused Tubbo to wince, his ears ringing and a headache immediately forming behind his eyes. He had to look away from the Spearhead, “…n-no, sir…”

“Kill them both tonight, or I kill you and your chosen. You have twelve hours.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 4/15
> 
> Surprise shawtyyyyy~
> 
> Alright so some of y'all guessed correctly a long time ago, y'all are just too smart for your own good! I tried to hide it as best as I could, but hopefully it isn't too much of a disappointment!  
> I hope the reveal was okay! <3
> 
> Don't forget to drink some water and eat some food, remember to take your meds, and wear a mask! Love y'all <3


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